Research Introduction
The HHA has conducted considerable research on the New Jersey Herriotts with the goal of establishing the Scottish roots of David Herriott (1661-1725) who emigrated to New Jersey in 1685 and is the progenitor of many Herriotts in America. They have also conducted years of research on the Scottish Heriots to find his family. Our research notes are available here for other researchers. Please be advised that these are raw notes and sometimes represent theories rather than conclusions. We leave it up to the reader to examine these and draw their own conclusions. We don’t want to take all the FUN out of it.
Research is the primary means by which a person tries to establish their roots. Even DNA evidence, to be conclusive, should be reconciled with existing documentation (birth, marriage, and death records; census records; wills; bibles; publications; etc) to establish the paper trail. This is not easy when dealing with older records as we must in researching Scottish Herriotts from 1400-1700 Scotland. Often tentative conclusions can be made after considerable analysis based on a preponderance of the evidence –approaching the conclusion from different vantage points. In our Research Area (only available to Registered Users) we have provided the analysis performed to justify our conclusions. It may not be perfect, but it is the best we can do with the information available. We welcome comments or rebuttals.