unctions on this farmers' frontier were not highly specialized. Even
the political system, with its tribunal of Fair Play men, operated
without the benefit of any formal code.

But it would be easy, from these indications, to magnify the simplicity
of the social structure and of social relationships in the West Branch
Valley. If we are to consider the development of democracy on this
frontier, we must take into account the various national stock groups
who settled this area and, in so doing, weigh their relative economic
and social status, the amount of intermarriage between them, and the
ease and frequency with which they visited each other. These and other
social relationships, such as their joint participation in voluntary
associations, their prejudices and conflicts, and the assimilation of
alien groups, must all be evaluated. The leadership, the existence of
social classes, and the family patterns must, of necessity, be a part of
our inquiry. And finally, the religious institutions, the educational
and cultural opportunities, and the system of values have to be
considered in arriving at a judgment regarding the democratic nature of
Fair Play society.

Fair Play society was composed of Scotch-Irish (48.75 per cent), English
(20 per cent), German (15 per cent), Scots (6.25 per cent), Irish (5 per
cent), Welsh (2.5 per cent) and French (2.5 per cent) settlers.[1] Due
to the pioneering conditions under which all of these national stock
groups developed their "improvements," economic privilege was rather
difficult to attain. Furthermore, even after the legislature granted
pre-emption in the act of December, 1784, the grants were limited to
300 acres.[2] In consequence of this, massive holdings were impossible
to maintain legally, as the customary holdings of two to three hundred
acres indicate in the tax lists for the years after 1784.[3] In fact,
the tax lists suggest that absentee-owners or persons outside the actual
geographic limits of the Fair Play territory who participated with the
Fair Play settlers were the only ones to possess 700 to 1,000 acres or
more.[4] This fact, combined with the "subsistence farming" which all of
the area settlers pursued, suggests a relatively comparable economic
status for the members of the Fair Play society. Consequently, social
status was not necessarily dependent upon economic status.

Social status on this frontier depended more upon achieved status than
ascribed status. This m