Hi Judy, Ohio was assuredly not frontier as late as 1858, hence I have doubts about 'land offers' occurring there. Personal sentiments regarding secession might have motivated one to leave secessionist states. As for talk of war, it was in the wind almost immediately after the Revolutionary War. A great deal of it was kindled in the formulation of the Constitution and subsequent congressional quarrels over acquisition of new territory as free states. Congressional debates, even at the very beginnings of the 1800's broke out in fisticuffs right in the halls of congress, and resulted in duels fought elsewhere around DC. There were Irish brigades in the Civil War, but I seem to recall that they were formed on both sides. In the Carolinas the Scots couldn't put aside their ancient "right" to prey on one another as long as no one else was preying on them (I am a descendent of Carolina Scots, so I think I can safely tell this). I would think that something like family ties ought to be explored regarding your ancestors' migration. Certainly, talk of war was seething and war was viewed as unavoidable by 1858. Some may have felt that the both the lack of population and industry would cause the South to lose such a conflict. They wouldn't have realized that a lack of generals would cause the North to lose three times as many men in the ensuing war. I've tried very hard to find the concomitant history which attends my own family's genealogy. It's very difficult to trace but I feel quite necessary. How else does one tell 'The Story'? I'm inclined to look for 'small' reasons nearer to the ground, rather than to assume that my ancestors were motivated to migrate because of things happening on a grander national scale. At least I would look closer within my family, e. g., a brother who had migrated earlier and urges his younger sibling to follow. In your case, Ohio was developing its industrial nature to a great degree in 1858. A poor Virginia farm boy might have found factory work in Ohio. As much as the North belonged to industrial land barons, the South belonged to plantation owners. I suppose I would first look at economic factors for the move. Warm regards, Dick Hudson