My guess is LAND. If the first son got the land, the rest went to find land. Note: my first four generations are: Michael, Henry, Michael, Michael - not easy to follow. On my King line. Michael King settled in VA, his second son Henry went to NC. Henry's first son Michael, stayed in NC (County name is different, but I haven't check to see if Bertie was formed from Chowan.) His first son Michael stayed in NC and Michael's 5th son Charles went to GA. Charles died while his children were still minors and GA was growing plus the Civil War - Charles' children and grandchildren seemed nomadic. Charles' grandson Charles Thomas ended up in Decatur (now Grady County). There are still a number of his descendents in Grady County although many of my Dad's and my generation have had to leave to find jobs. My dad has now retired to Grady County after spending 20 years away in the Navy. (He is living on land first claimed by Hawthorn and hand down through his mother's side of the family, not the King side.) At 06:46 PM 10/5/98 , Butt, Thomas wrote: >There are so many KINGS that moved from the Carolinas to GA in the early >1800's, then on to GA, then AL, and some later to AR. There must be some >reason for this pattern. I don't recognize anything in common with my >KINGS except the migration pattern. Was someone giving away maps, or >what?? --- Deborah S Nelson Santa Clara CA