Susanna, I not sure if you got a response on why people move to the Shelby county area. I'd be interested to hear a good explanation. My ancestors came about 1830, plus or minus. Illinois was admitted as a state in 1818, but it seems only real pioneers would be settling in some place like Shelby county at that time. There were land bounties about 1828 that seem to start the movements. There were still "indian wars" at that time. After the Black War for 1832, there seems to be more stability and I think that encouraged more people to move. Some time around then, they started to move out of the valleys and discovered that prairies were good farm land. One of my ancestors, John Smith, was in his 50s when he moved to Shelby/Moultrie counties. I'm baffled as to why he moved at 50, he should have been well established, more than why he came to Shelby county. Any thoughts? Brian -----Original Message----- From: Susanna Clark-Smith [SMTP:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 5:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ILSHELBY] Migration paterns Can someone tell me why people started moving to the Shelby co. area in the 1830's? Was there a particular event? My ancestor, Russell FLETCHER, moved his family there about 1836. Susanna Clark-Smith "Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes"