In a message dated 10/18/2004 1:04:27 PM US Mountain Standard Time, alicepat47@comcast.net writes: As I understand it, it was the farmland. Much of Washington County had poor soils. My ancestors headed down the river with many of those folks but stopped on the other side of the river in Kentucky. Some other reasons were that many had large families and there wasn't enough farm land to go around to make a living. The good farm land in the Ogle Co. area was just becoming available at cheap prices so many moved and there were many jobs available in the new communities being formed. Word of mouth brought more. Also many farms were destroyed in the Civil War causing some to move. Roger Cramer Peoria, Arizona Roger and Sue Cramer's Genealogy Site http://members.aol.com/rogercubs/index.html Ogle Co., IL Genealogy Site http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilogle/