TIP #453 - THE MIGRANT PATTERNS Where did most of the original Kentucky settlers come from? White settlers began moving into what is now Kentucky in the 1770's while we were still a part of the state of Virginia. This was a result of Virginia issuing land warrants to the veterans of the French-Indian War and later the Revolutionary War. Settlers entered the state over the Wilderness Road and traveling down the Ohio River. The population was approximately a half a million by 1820 and then dropped below the national average as many of the Kentucky residents moved on to other states. It wasn't until the 1850 census that the government started keeping data on where our citizens had been born. By 1860 Virginia still ranked as the state of greatest movement into Kentucky, followed by Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. By the 1870 census, the greatest influx of new citizens came from Tennessee. One hundred years later, Ohio. If Kentuckians were leaving this state, where did they go? In 1850 they went primarily to Missouri and Texas. This pattern continued until about 1910 when the paths shifted to the northern states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Most of these shifts were because by the availability of good land, following by economic factors. What about the foreign immigrants? Kentucky ranks low in this regard. In 1850 there were 31,400 immigrants in Kentucky or 4%. This rose to 6.4% in 1869 with it peaking to 63,4000 immigrants in 1870. From that time, the immigrants decreased with 34,562 in 1980. (Howard W. Beers, Groth of Population in Kentucky 1860-1940, Lexington, KY, 1942.) French Settlements came about due to France's claim to the Ohio Valley on the supposed discovery of the valley by Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle in 1669 where he claimed in 1682 the entire Mississippi River watershed. However, the French didn't try to settle the area because the Iroquois Indians claimed it and the French claimed that the Kentucky furs were inferior to those farther north. But, by 1749 they became alarmed by growing raids beyond the Alleghenies by English traders, Gov. Gen Roland-Michel Barrin de al Gallissoniere sent 213 regulars, Canadians and Indians from Quebec to counter English claims to the Ohio and to protect the Mississippi corridor. This 4-month operation saw them crossing to the Allegheny; passing down to the Ohio to the Great Miami. But this didn't make much of an impact on the English and the Indians, for Indian irregulars destroyed the English-Indian trading center on the Upper Miami in 1752 and a chain of forts were establish by 1754 from Presq'Isle to the forks of the Ohio. The forts survived until British Gen. John Forbes sent an expedition and the Pennsylvanian Indians deserted and the French were forced to abandon, surrendering in 1763 to the English. The Americans owed a debt of gratitude to the French for their assistance during the Revolutionary War and many place names in Kentucky are in gratitude to their assistance - Versailles, Bourbon, Paris, Fayette, La Grange and Louisville.(Leslie Tihany, "French Legends Die Hard in Kentucky, FCHQ 55, April 1981.) German settlements were among the earliest in Kentucky. Isaac Hite was Isaac Hayd; he surveyed in Kentucky in 1773 and returned with James Harrod, founding Harrodsburg in 1774. Daniel Boone's companion (one of many) was German Michael Stoner (Holsteiner), a Pennsylvanian Dutchman. Matthia Harmon (Hermann) was one of the search party looking for Jenny Wiley in 1798. The famous Kentucky Rifle and the conestoga wagon were two of the contributions of the Germans. By 1790 only 14% of Kentucky's population was of German roots. Jefferson County was an area of a great number of German immigrants. Two Germans, along with others, laid out Lexington in 1781. The majority of German settlement was along the Ohio River. German editors such as Karl Heinzen became newspaper editors. By 1850 there arose an anti-German reaction, primarily by the Roman Catholic. In 1855, in Louisville, attempts were made by the Know-Nothing party to keep the Germans from being able to vote; this erupted into riots which killed many. During the Civil War, many Germans were recruited into the Army and contributed greatly to the battles of Mill Springs and Munfordville. Many Germans and German-speaking immigrants from Austria and Switzerland settled in the cities. Smaller numbers preferred the country areas. One Henrich Lembke, on orders in 1885 from the state, reported that he had found 13 colonies in Kentucky from Lyon County to Laurel County, with the heaviest settlement in Louisville, Covington and Newport. The anti-German settlement calmed down, William Gobel, son of German immigrants was elected Governor. Covington, Kentucky, the largest city in northern Kentucky, can trace many of its founders to the Irish and German. Louisville and Jefferson County is made up many immigrants from Scot-Irish, English and German descent, also many of Dutch descent. The first weekly edition of "Kentucky Irish American" newspaper was published in 1898 by William M. Higgins, of Louisville for its Irish descendants. Over the years, Kentucky has become, as all states have, a melting pot of citizens from all over the world. This has been just a birds-eye-view of the earlier times when Kentucky's frontiers were opened and with this, the cultures of many nations can be seen flourishing together. English, French, German, Dutch, Irish ... all blend in with those from the other countries to make Kentucky an area flowing with cultural diversity. (c) Copyright 14 Aug 2003, Sandra K. Gorin. Colonel Sandi Gorin SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html SCKY surname registry sites: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/reg.html http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/forms/SCKYreg.html Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/