According to an article I have , passed along to me many years ago, many of our people left Perry Co. Al. in 1841 for two reasons: 1. A cholera epedemic 2.Some kind of superstition about the stars falling and some bad omens or signs---they left in droves. There was also the lure of public lands just opened up. There were so many from Alabama that the place on the ouachita river where they crossed into Union Parish was called Alabama Landing and after crossing they formed a small settlement west of the river named Marion after the county seat of Perry Co. I know that a lot of my ancestors were together in Ga. before Al. Brenda Gray Felder