My brother-in-law, who is an Overman, tells me his German Ancestors came from Conn.>Penn>NC, settling in the Pasquatoc (sp???) Co. Area (old Albemarle). These Overmans came to Rowan Co. and eventually moved on to Indiana about 1800 or so. He says that there was a band of preachers making the rounds in our fine western counties preaching anti-slavery and urging folks there to migrate to river valleys in indiana and Ohio, in an effort to escape farming amidst this practice. This was interesting to me because my Moses Hearne's (of Lincoln Co. 1782/185?) father was a James Hearne of Rowan Co. who migrated from Maryland>NC>Ohio migrating to Ohio about this same time, 1802, Leaving the sons of his first wife in North Carolina. I have always wondered why he would have moved off north instead of a more southerly migration as the rest of the Hearnes have done. Does anyone know anything about these "anti-slavery" preachers?? Would this be a connection to a possible Quaker or other such sects influence in the Catawba Region, if any ??? Mike Hearne Merritt Island fl.