ay have been an influence of the Scotch-Irish,
who judged, and thus classified, a neighbor by the size and condition of
his dwelling, the care of his farm, the work done by the women in the
family, his personal characteristics and morality, and his
diversions.[5] Journalists, pension claimants, and the operative,
although unwritten, code of the Fair Play men all give corroborative
evidence in this regard.[6] Of all these criteria, personal character
and morality seemed to have been most important. The Scotch-Irish, who,
like the people of other national stocks, accepted social classes as the
right ordering of society, shifted their emphasis, as a result of the
frontier experience, from family heritage to individual achievement.[7]

Intermarriages provide a further key to the social relationships of the
Fair Play settlers. If a small sample is any indication, the cases of
intermarriages among the various national stock groups were relatively
high, with better than one-third of the marriages sampled falling within
this classification.[8] The fact that the Scotch-Irish frequently
married within their own group was probably due to their being more
"available" in terms of numbers. Industry and good character were the
prime criteria for selecting a frontier mate, as Dunaway points out.[9]

The ease and frequency of neighborly visits is vividly demonstrated in
the characteristically cooperative cabin-raisings, barn-raisings,
cornhuskings and similar activities in which joint effort was usual. The
women, too, exchanged visits and, on occasion, gathered at one place for
quilting or other mutually shared activities.[10] Furthermore, the
frontier journalists often noted the fine hospitality and congeniality
of their backwoods hosts.[11]

Further evidence of the egalitarian influence of this frontier is found
in the joint participation of Fair Play settlers in voluntary
associations.[12] This is particularly noticeable in their attendance
at outdoor sermons and involvement in the various political activities.
At a time when fewer than 100 families lived in the territory, Fithian
observed that "There were present about an Hundred & forty" people for a
sermon which he gave on the banks of the Susquehanna, opposite the
present city of Lock Haven, on Sunday, July 30, 1775.[13] Although
William Colbert, a Methodist, later "preached to a large congregation of
willing hearers" within the territory, he did not think that it was
"worth th