Of course they've always lived here
Or since Columbus anyway! lol.
Interesting thing about the New England Primer - it was used as a standard textbook for decades and decades (and decades). My Grandma was a teacher in rural Iowa back in the early part of last century and she had a copy in with her kit.
Here's one from 1843:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/nep/nep00.htm
Pete