I have seen comments on the web that people often moved following epidemic illness in an area. I have seen a list of major epidemics, but can't lay my hands on it at the moment. Often this would spur a move, sometimes to a community where a relative was already established. After all, a family traveling to start a new life in another place didn't have the luxury of having a place to stay while they got settled or built a house. So they frequently would stay with another relative already there. I no longer have the URL for the web site shown below, but you shouldn't have trouble finding it from the information in the text. Check out some of the other interesting articles while you are there. Volume 4...Number 2.... An International Genealogical Publication......April/May OTHER STORIES Scottish Country Dance Things we need to know... About middle names While visiting gravesites The meaning of census Choctaw Code Talkers How to get census records Popular Scottish names School of Kiltmaking Ft. Wayne loves genealogy Beware of genealogical fraud Are you kith or kin? Congress changes copyrights Gen. Lee unarmed in the war Helpful Social Security info "Immigrate", "Emigrate" or "Migrate" About bagpipes... Holocaust victims claim assets As if it weren't confusing enough... More confusing stuff! How big is a Corps? Why did Grandpa move? It takes how long? "Wet blanket" comes from... Slave records useful Why did Grandpa move? What prompted our ancestors to pull up stakes and venture off to relatively unknown territory? The pattern of western movement was the result of numerous diverse factors including free land. The doctrine of Manifest Destiny expanded the country and filled in the vast empty spaces between the two oceans. Personal motives were sometimes responsible. A family moved after a marriage or the death of a member or to be nearer other relatives or to put sorrow behind by distance. Migration accelerated after the Civil War. For example, in the Illinois Adjutant General's Report, History of the 33rd IL Regiment, stated that by 1886, a roster of their 500 survivors showed men living in 20 states with one third west of the Mississippi. The economy of the 19th century also had a profound effect on frequent moves by our ancestors. Some of the major historical events that triggered Grandpa's moves were: 1825 - Erie Canal completion; 1843 - Oregon Trail family travel commences; 1848 - Gold discovered in California; 1857 - Financial panic, resulting in mortgage recalls and low crop prices; 1866 - Post Civil War Depression; 1868 - Newspaper ads began offering low rail fares to western destinations; 1875 - Grasshopper plagues on midwest prairies; 1887 - Dawes Act broke up communal Indian Lands, opening land to white settlement; and 1896 - Gold discovered in the Alaskan Klondike. With many thanks to Rickey Roots & Revels, the publication of The Rickey Family Association. Contact them at 235 15th St., NE, Salem, OR 97301-4228.