Hello, Hallmans, My ancestor (Anthony's gr-grandson), Benjamin Hallman (2), m. to Elizabeth Detweiler, left Pennsylvania for Ontario in 1825. Several theories are presented as the reason for the "Great Migration" of so many Pennsylvania-Germans in the first quarter of the 19th Century. In the years after the War of 1812, the state of this new country was in poor shape. Many farmers were in debt. Rather than owe their creditors, they chose to sell their farms, pay their debts and move to a new place where the land was rich for farming and the price of land was reasonable. Another theory presented is that these farmers, many of them Mennonites or Brethren, were peace- loving and the British government of Canada assured them they would not have to serve in the military. After going through two wars--this assurance appealed to them. The third theory I have heard is that these farmers had lived under the English government for years, had sworn to be true to the Crown, and, perhaps they felt a loyalty to the British, who had helped their parents and grandparents come to this new country. As far as I know, my ancestors migrated to Canada because of the opportunities there to obtain acreage ideal for farming at low cost. Benjamin's oldest son, Jacob, walked to Ontario in 1822. He was only 19 at the time. He earned his way as he went. When he returned home in two years, he persuaded his parents to move to Canada. (Jacob married Eva Strome soon after his family arrived in Canada, so he may have had an ulterior motive, other than good farm land, for his enthusiasm for Canada!) Benjamin's two youngest children, Hannah and Wendell, were born in Canada. Rev. Wendell Hallman, my gr-grandfather, married Nancy Schlichter in 1849. They moved to Michigan in 1883. They lived in Michigan for several years before returning to Berlin (Kitchener), Ont. some of their children remained in Michigan. My grandfather, Rev. Henry S. Hallman, published the Gospel Banner, a missionary periodical for the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church, for years. His daughter, Grace Hallman, met my father while they both were attending Bible School in Elim, NY. My father's home was in Michigan so that's where they settled and raised their family of 2 boys and 2 girls. So goes my family's migration pattern. How about your family's migration? Faith Hutchings