Chrystie, Family lore has Isaac Myers going West via the Ohio River Route. Do you know where and what that rout was? Wouldn't it be ironic if Isaac ended up in Tennessee? Bobbye

Here we go. A brief history on "Migration" and the "Great Wagon Roads". In my own words so don't laugh and keep up with me here;) Virginia Valley was first used by traders and hunters on the old Warrior's Trail belonging to the Indian's for tradings and for tribal war (war paths). Now we know where that term came from. Indian trading on these warpaths stemmed from the northern area of what is today New York, extending to the Atlantic Ocean and reaching as far south as the Carolina's. This trail was to be one of the most major trails used by our pioneer settlers. And they had to stay east of the mountains though eventually they did find gaps; many of them. But, to use these gaps to cross over into the great westerly areas of VA and OH they had to literally zig zag around which explains who they ended up in the Carolina's and Tennesse before hitting Kentucky and back into Ohio. They literally trailed westerly only to have to again head easterly - gaps, they had to find "gaps" in the mountains; some even went south only to have to head back north again; then westerly and easterly, back and forth - these poor yet determined souls had no other choice always looking behind their backs for Indians, French and British to grab at them; as well as running from their ship masters who literally owned their hides. So, these Indian trails were pretty well defined for the new white settlers holding close to the Atlantic between NY City and Phil. PA. The valley ran westerly and as you got more "down south" the paths followed along the west side of the Blue Ridge for over 100 miles and then there are 3 splits which I'll explain later. This old Warrior's Trail became the "Great Wagon Road", Route 11 and according to an old map which dates back pre 1750 (in front of me now) all roads from the northeast lead to Winchester, first! So... Looking at a map I'll explain it as such: 1 - Starting from Boston you could go only 2 ways. a. Due south into Providence; southwesterly into NY and NJ; a bit more west but more southerly into Trenton; from there a deep west cut into Philadelphia. NOTE: Once in Phil. PA the road now splits again, 2 ways. Our ancestors could head straight down in a southwesterly direction into Baltimore or continue due west into Lancaster. b. If our ancestors decided to head for Lancaster he/she would head into York County, PA; from there again due south slanting a bit more westerly over the Potomac (in Maryland now in areas such as Harpers Ferry and Frederick/Carroll Counties) and continue straight in a south (tilting west) direction straight into WINCHESTER. From there they'd continue to head down Route 11 (The old Wagon trail) into the Shenandoah Valley and straight into Staunton, VA continuing on into Big Lick (Roanoke). Now, he's hitting gaps. (Not til later in the decades did they venture enough to find these gaps) so he's gotta go back heading due east with a southern tilt til he ends up in Warrenton. From there he can either go southwest to Raleigh NC and continue to dip south but with more of a westerly tilt into Camden SC and finally resting in Augusta, Georgia. c. If the pioneer decided to head for Baltimore, MD he would continue south to Annapolis, MD; head due west gapping southerly a bit and ending up in Alexandria; from this point he can continue due west and end up in WINCHESTER. Again, he can continue due south w/westerly tile into the Shenandoah Valley to Staunton and then Roanoke (Big Lick). This old Indian trail that was known to white settlers as the The Great Wagon Road winded it's way through the Valley of Virginia connecting them with the northern seaports and the Carolina coastlines as well as more inside of the North Atlantic but still west of the Mountains creating the thoroughfare of the Cumberland gap. They slowly dredged these trails to fit their wagons in a southerly direction but wanted to go westerly because VA and PA were hitting them hard for taxes, land grants were not up for grabs, the rich stayed that way, much as they do today. One problem; about 85 percent of the immigrants were "indentured slaves". They were under the very gripes of what they fled from across the Atlantic Ocean - taxes and religious persecution. About 25 families, all inter-married/connected bought up most of the land and held these poor 85 percenter's heads for up to 7 years at a time. These 85 percenter's were the ones that pushed further and further in a southwesterly fashion, risking their lives and their families just to have freedom from high taxes and to live the way they dreamed of on those horrible voyages where they lost entire families more times then recorded. (These are my own words here). The settlers wanted to head westerly for more fertile lands for a better chance of growing good crops to support their families. In 1717, thousands of Scotch-Irish merged with the German Palatine pioneers whom were already here but the Scotch-Irish choose to deal with the Indians rather then the Germans. PA and MD was famous for land arguments which is what sent these S-Irish out of PA and MD and into VA. Now, let's backup. 2 - We're back to WINCHESTER again, route 11. If a settler decided against the Shenandoah and Roanoke because of the dangers, he had one wa to go - east where he ended up due north of Alexandrea. From here he can only go south to Fredericksburg. And now the road splits 3 ways. 3 Splits from Fredericksburg 1. Due southeast to Williamsburg; continue on into Jamestown (east). Now, he's heading southwest on old Kings Hwy. through New Bera, NC into Wilmington / Cape Fear. From there he continues straight down the coastline to Charleston later arriving in Savannah, Georgia. 2. Due south through Richmond on old Fall Line Road; continuing south into Petersburg and eventually ending up iin Warrenton; from there he's now southeastly heading into Wake and Raleigh and as he continues on his path he's slanting more westerly over into Camden, SC and again arriving in Augusta, GA. 3. From Fredericksburg (as all 3 are) he's due south but now for long; the road tilts west as he heads down the Upper Road of the Carolina's passing through Amelia, and later Hillsboro. From there he stops over in Salisburg. Now, take the west slant off he's again heading due south into Charlotte. Obviously, as I look at this map, our ancestor's more then likely either opted to do 1 of 2 things; Settle near where he landed, evetually migrating nearby looking for better climate and crop lands OR take the big southwest plunge! 1- Settling In Boston, MA where he arrived from Europe upon the Atlantic Ocean. In Providence, RI where he arrived from Europe upon the Atlantic Ocean. In Albany, NY where he arrived from Europe upon the Great Lakes. In NY or NJ where he arrived from Europe upon the Atlantic Ocean. In Annapolis, Frederick or Baltimore, MD where he arrived from Europe upon the Atlantic Ocean at Annapolis watertown. In Lancaster, York or Phila., PA where he arrived from Europe upon the Atlantic Ocean either coming down from the northern areas or from Annapolis. In Providence, RI where he arrived from Europe upon the Atlantic Ocean. He could have landed near Annapolis, MD and headed down the route/path directly into Alexandria and from there head due west into WINCHESTER. Since the Mohawk Valley stemmed from NY leading from the Great lakes, this would surely seem more like a feasiable route. And ca 1725 - 1750 there were 4 major areas to migrate to. All books that I've read show that our pioneer ancestors really wanted to get to the lands of OHIO but between finding a good safe route and dodging arrows, muskats and taxes, well, their only choose was to head into the Carolina's, land that is now TN. North Carolina held most of the settlers back pre 1800 because the Indians had a treaty by this time with the French. Though some settlers snuck through anyway, NC did all they could to keep them back BUT North Carolina was not without sin. NC was selling land grants to our ancestos ca 1786 - this was long before allowable according to Indians treaties. No wonder they went on the warpath. So, the 4 major trails were: 1 - Indian Traders, they were first with the likes of Daniel BOONE cutting trails to make them big enough for wagons and families to travel on. Alot of politics took place even back in those days; because as long as the Indians held they're lands fur trading was like gold selling to larger companies from England and this obviously is another reason the French and British didn't get along, much less with the indentured settlers. 2 - Cattle and hogs, oh the cattlemen wanted those free green grazing lands of VA and as the frontiermen came in further and futher they forced back the range of lands avail. marketwise for the cattlemen. 3 - Land Speculators. Again the King of England didn't want to allow the colonial settlers to take western territory rather England wanted to use the land for wealth, location location location. While the French had already sucessfully made treaties w/the Indians and their trade was booming in the north and northeast, England was grabbing lands in the south. And the German and Scotch Irish ignored all of this, moving onto lands and laying claim. And while this is going on, the Land Speculators are seeking to controll the best lands w/dreams of cashing in on land rent and seller's fees. 4 - The Farmer; he'd clear land, plant crops and raise a family while all of this is going on around him. He took over land without a deed, worked hard to build communites and local gov'ts and helped to improve trails so he could trade his crop products better. Now, this "farmer" would pickup every 5 years or so and just move a bit more south or southwest everytime one of the above 3 moved in and tried to speculate land; raise taxes; tell him what to do and how to do it including religion - hence the migrartion. NEXT - SHENANDOAH VALLEY MOUNTAIN GAPS Chrystie MYERS BROOKOVER, COWGER, KRABAL, MOYERS, MYRES, SWECKER --------------------------- # --------------------------- Rootsweb List Administrator - [email protected] Homestead for MYERS GENEALOGY.COM at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~chrystiem/myersfam.html