Folks, Jan is entirely correct on why families moved so much. As a matter of fact most States held land lotteries in the 19th Century this does not include The Federal Homestead Act passed post U. S. Civil War to encourage settlement in our Western States. I know for a fact that Georgia held a Land Lottery every year from 1800 - 1909 and in 1832 GA held a Gold Lottery to encourage the mining of gold in the North GA Mountains which was actually land that belonged to the Cherokee Indian Nation. This one gold lottery to satisfy the white man's greed for a yellow rock is the prime factor that led to the " Trail Of Tears" from GA to Oklahoma Territory in 1835 - 1836. Yours Aye, David D. Boyd Marietta, GA

Land was always the motivating factor in moving. My gr. moved from Kansas to NM, the Homestead Act. He got 120 acres of free land...unfortunately, it was in the middle of the desert, with little water. But Scot that he was, he built a small frame house, bought a couple of cows, and dry farmed. Later on he added on to the house. I think his cow herd increased, and that's how he made money....sold the calves. I have his old money ledger, and it's scary to look at....$2.00, $1.50...he counted every penny. And they NEVER threw anything away. I found hanks of my gr.grandmothers hair in a dresser drawer when I was a kid. And you're right....white man's greed. My SIL is a Creek Indian...his ancestors were part of the Trail of Tears to OK. Jan ----- Original Message ----- From: "David D. Boyd" <daveboyd@bellsouth.net> To: <CLANBOYD-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 1:31 PM Subject: [ClanBoyd] RE: Boyd migration routes > Folks, > Jan is entirely correct on why families moved so much. > As a matter of fact most States held land lotteries in the 19th > Century this does not include The Federal Homestead Act passed post U. > S. Civil War to encourage settlement in our Western States. > I know for a fact that Georgia held a Land Lottery every year from > 1800 - 1909 and in 1832 GA held a Gold Lottery to encourage the mining > of gold in the North GA Mountains which was actually > land that belonged to the Cherokee Indian Nation. This one gold lottery > to satisfy the white man's greed for a yellow rock is the prime factor > that led to the " Trail Of Tears" from GA to Oklahoma Territory in 1835 > - 1836. > Yours Aye, > David D. Boyd > Marietta, GA > > > > ==== CLANBOYD Mailing List ==== > RING OF BOYDS http://k.webring.com/wrman?ring=clanboydwebring&addsite > BOOKS http://clanboyd.info/books/forsale > http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=boyd-trees > > >