It is interesting to contrast the national stock groupings of this Susquehanna frontier with the results of a study of national origins of the American population made by the American Council of Learned Societies and published in 1932:[5]
Classification of the White Population into Its National Stocks in the Continental United States and Pennsylvania: 1790; and in the Fair Play Territory: 1784 (Expressed in Percentages).
Scotch-Irish English German Scots Irish Welsh French Other ========================================================================= Conti- nental United States 5.9 60.1 8.6 8.1 3.6 0 2.3 10.6
Penn- sylva- nia 11.0 35.3 33.3 8.6 3.5 0 1.8 6.5
Fair Play Terri- tory 48.75 20 15 6.25 5 2.5 2.5 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
From this comparison it can readily be seen that the national origins of the Fair Play settlers in no way conform to either the national pattern or the State pattern of just a few years later. Although this limited frontier area can be recognized as having its own individual ratio of component stocks, it is representative rather than unique in its culture and values. The reaction of those of other national stocks to the frontier experience buttresses the conclusion that their values were influenced more by the frontier than by national origin. It is this common reaction to the problems of the frontier which gives rise to the conclusion that this West Branch Valley environment was characterized by and that its inhabitants held values which Turner evaluated as democratic. The nature of those democratic values is, however, dealt with in greater detail in subsequent chapters.
The American sources of emigration form the next question to be considered in examining the origins of the Fair Play settlers. Lacking adequate statistical data for a complete picture of migration in terms of percentages, the following chart indicates only the probable origins of the three most numerous national stock groupings in the Fair Play territory:
National Percentage of Stock Population American Source of Emigration =============================================================== Scotch-Irish 48.75 Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster counties