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See Also: Wigton Walkers
Migration History
The following provides a brief outline of the migration history of the "Wigton Walkers". As this article grows, additional details will be provided in separate "Analysis" articles.
| Hypothetical routes of emigration for the family of John Walker II. Routes in red indicate travel at sea. Routes in green indicate overland travel.
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 | Sometime around 1710 [1] John Walker II and wife Katherine Rutherford moved from Wigton Scotland to Newry Ireland. At the time Wigton was a significant seaport and it seems likely that they left directly from Wigton. It is also possible that they traveled overland to the ports of Stranraer or Portpatrick, and embarked there for Ireland. After setting sail, their route would have taken them either to somewhere in the general area of Belfast, or Strangford Bay to the south. Another possibility is that they traveled by ship further west debarking somewhere along Carlingford Bay, which would give them the shortest overland route to their new home in Newry. [2]
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| Some ten to 15 years later John Walker and his extended family left Strangford Bay, Ireland, in May of 1726, and arrived in America on August 2 of that year. Presumably their ship sailed south to the latitude of the Canary Islands to pick up the prevailing east-west current that took them quickly to North America. On arriving off the American coast they may either have entered the Chesapeake Bay, sailing north to the area of Port Deposit in modern Cecil County Maryland, and then traveled overland to the area near the Presbyterian Meeting House located in what is now known as Rising Sun, Cecil County, Md. Alternatively, they may have taken a more northernly course, entering the Delaware Bay, and sailing northward to disembark at Chester, in modern Delaware County, PA. This would have resulted in a slightly longer trip overland to Rising Sun, but both routes are equally plausible. | 
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