The account begins, as usual, with immigration. Before crossing the Atlantic, the Pinkertons lived in Ireland. Family tradition recalls that in earlier centuries they migrated first from England to Scotland and later to Ireland, following population shifts of the time. Our story begins in Northern Ireland, in the 1820's, where James Pinkerton and his family began to plan a move to the new world. At this point James was a man in his early sixties with a grown family of 5 boys and 3 girls. Some of these family members were themselves married with young families. They lived in County Antrim around the town of Ballymoney, in the parish of Seacon. They probably migrated in two or more groups, but by 1829, most were settled on farms in King Township, York County, Upper Canada near the village of Lloydtown. James Pinkerton, the patriarch, lived to the age of 96 and his grave is in the Pioneer Cemetery at Lloydtown. This cemetery also contains graves of several of his family, including his wife Jane, and sons Samuel and Matthew, who lived out their lives in the vicinity.