Paul Nix, [PanSoft] wrote: > > Hi Gang, > The New FRAMES Version of the "NOTTINGHAM LOCAL HISTORY INDEX" > is being constantly up-dated with information, tales and images. > > Remember to Reload pages if you have visited before or you > may not see any difference. > > I feel that this is a on going task that may never end. > > I have now added a Large Map "BADDER & PEAT 1744" and tied it > to the Index with Alpha-numeric characters to give approximate positions. > > Please check it out, and give any comments...... > > http://www.innotts.co.uk/~pansoft/local/notframe.htm > > All for now Paul. > ======================================================================= > > Please respond privately to "pansoft@innotts.co.uk" > > Or if graphics related "graphics@efn.org" > > Check out Graphics, Nottingham History, Caves & Robin Hood. > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > pansoft@innotts.co.uk http://www.innotts.co.uk/~pansoft/ > ======================================================================= > > ==== NIX Mailing List ==== > Reminder: If you change e-mail addresses, unsubscribe from the old one and subscribe again with the new one. Excuse me, but are you referring to Nottinghamshire, England? My husband's anscestors, the Palmers originated there. Pam Nickerson Newton

I realize the spelling is different but some of the messages I have been reading really makes me wonder. Well here goes and I can only hope for the best. Henry G. Nixson dob 1826 in Georgia. Dod 7-7-1877. He is buried in Hopewell Cemetery, Wood Co. Texas. Martha E. Harris dob 9-17-1835 in Alabama. Her parents were William Harris dob 1812 in South Carolina and Rachel ? 5-15-1815 in South Carolina. Dod 10-9-1879, buried in Hopewell Cemetery, Wood Co. Texas. Their children were William Downey born in Alabama, Rebecca Lugenia "Becky" 4-29-1855 in Alabama, John A. 1-24-1861 in Alabama, Sarah Emma 1-24-1868, Cary Lou Trilla 1-24-1872 in Louisiana, Mary Elizabeth 1874 in Quitman, Wood Co. Texas. The family story is that the family was moving from Alabama to Texas when Cary Lou Trilla was born in Louisiana near the Texas border. Information I have recently received indicates that Henry and Martha Nixson owned a horse farm in Louisiana and when a daughter ran of with a groom the family came also. Who knows? Any help would be appreciated. The surnames I seek are HARRIS, NIXSON, TOLBERT, BYNUM, MURPHREE, BULLARD, CLIFTON, WEBB, PHILIPS, MILLS AND SCOTT. Jenny Lee Tolbert seminole46@juno.com _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

Bernettie E Nix, Six Mile, Pickens County, South Carolina Bernettie E. Nix, 92, of 516 Duncan Road, died Wednesday March 11, 1998. She was a homemaker and a member of Mile Creek Baptist Church. Surviving is a brother, Albert W Nix of the home. Services: 11 a. m. Saturday in the chapel of Dillard Memorial Funeral Home with burial in Mile Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. Visitation: 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. The Greenville News, Thursday 13 March 1998.

I am searching for information on ELIJAH NIX born ca. 1790 in (Oglethorpe Co.), GA. Who were his parents? Who did he marry? When and where did he die? His children were living with several families in Catahoula Parish, LA. in 1850. They are: Reverand Allen--1815--GA--#1 Sarah A. Routon, #2 Mary Adelaide McCormick Edward--1817--GA--Jane Perry--Russell Co., AL Avy--born ?--died before 1848 Martha M.--1822--GA--Drury M. Prichard Thomas D.--1824 to 1877--GA--Manerva Kincaid Joel Ross--1826 to 1910--GA--#1 Elizabeth Smith, #2 Mary Muirhead--TX. James Robert--1829--1908--GA--#1 Sarah Ann Haines, #2 Martha Childs--AR. Sarah Ann--1832--GA--John Hair William Heflin--1834 to 1905--GA--Mary Grayson Herlong Sophronia Elizabeth--1837--LA--John C. Humble or Samuel Bedgood Any help appreciated! Nadyne FAULKENBERRY Lynn 7311 Cat Creek Lane Amarillo, TX 79108

I am sending the following out to my surname lists. This is a project that was spearheaded by some of the listowners as a fund raiser project for Rootsweb. All profits will go to Rootsweb which supports our genealogy mailing lists. As you know, the tremendous increase in e-mail has strained the Rootsweb hardware and they need more funds to upgrade the servers, etc. Hopefully, this project will help. I think you will find the recipe books are reasonably priced too, making it ideal for gift-giving. Thanks for taking the time to read this post! - Wanda ******************* The order form is up and ready at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/4793/temp.html If you don't have internet access you can order via email. The cost of the book is $10.00 incl. tax/shipping, and we have OVER 500 recipes/remedies!!!! Orders will be taken until March 25...so order yours now. Remember, payment must be sent right away. We cannot order the books without advance payment. When ordering by email be sure to include your name, street address (where you want the book/s sent), number of books desired, and total $... Make check or money order payable to Homespun Cookbook and send it to Homespun Cookbook c/o 2200 Green Acres Dr. Rogers, AR 72758 If you have friends who are ordering books and it is possible, please give only one address to send all the books to. This will save us postage and increase the profit to ROOTSWEB... Thanks Sandi & Shirley PS - These will make great birthday, wedding shower and Christmas gifts!

The Blade Toledo, Ohio March 8, 1998 Ulysses Nix, 71, passed away March 3, 1998 in Brooklyn, New York. A native of Harrisburg, IL he was a resident of Toledo from 1945-1978 when he relocated where he remained until his passing. An honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Army, he served during World War II. A graduate of The University of Toledo, he did post graduate work at Bowling Green State University and Michigan State University. While in Toledo, he worked for Champion Spark Plug and was Eastside Director of The Economic Planning Association of Greater Toledo from 1965-1978. He was also the first Afro American to have a jazz program on WSPD radio. While in New York he taught communications. He is survived by 2 sons, Bernard M. Nix of New York, NT and Ricardo Nix of Saginaw, MI; daughter, Michelle Nix of Fredericksburg, VA; grandson, Noel Nix; 2 brothers, Theodore Nix (Lucille) of Toledo and David Buford (Juanita) of Detroit, MI; 2 aunts, Maggie Williams of Cleveland, OH and Marzenia Freeman of Dayton, OH and many nieces, nephews and other relatives. Wake services will be Monday 12 noon and funeral services following at 1 p.m. Dale Funeral Home Chapel, burial Historic Woodlawn Cemetery.

Hi Gang, The New FRAMES Version of the "NOTTINGHAM LOCAL HISTORY INDEX" is being constantly up-dated with information, tales and images. Remember to Reload pages if you have visited before or you may not see any difference. I feel that this is a on going task that may never end. I have now added a Large Map "BADDER & PEAT 1744" and tied it to the Index with Alpha-numeric characters to give approximate positions. Please check it out, and give any comments...... http://www.innotts.co.uk/~pansoft/local/notframe.htm All for now Paul. ======================================================================= Please respond privately to "pansoft@innotts.co.uk" Or if graphics related "graphics@efn.org" Check out Graphics, Nottingham History, Caves & Robin Hood. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- pansoft@innotts.co.uk http://www.innotts.co.uk/~pansoft/ =======================================================================

>I suppose this is a longshot but here goes. Is it possible that Nixson >is a spelling variation of Nix? Please let me know. > >Jenny Lee Tolbert >seminole46@juno.com Jenny, The one thing I have learned in genealogy is ANYTHING is possible. Keep your mind open to all variations of spelling as you do your research! Wanda Rabb (researching R*abb (NC/SC), P*enix (NC), B*radshaw (VA>NC), (G*antt (NC), N*ix, R*obertson, W*ilson, C*onner (Rutherford Co.,NC), L*aws(Yancey, Rutherford Co., NC), E*dwards,K*elley (Yancey Co.,NC), C*ausby, P*atton, M*orrison, S*parks(Burke/McDowell Co., NC) P*axton (Union Co., NC >Lancaster, SC), F*arris & M*orris (York Co., SC) L*ovelace, H*amrick, G*reen and Mc*Swain (Cleveland Co., NC), G*ranger, L*edford, B*lack(Cleveland or Rutherford Co., NC), T*owery (Cleveland or Lincoln Co., NC) Listmanager for CAUSBY-L, RABB-L, FARRIS-L, PAXTON-L, NIX-L, and LAWS-L Editor of online newsletter: WILSONS of Rutherford and Polk Counties, NC Homepage: http://www.netunlimited.net/~wcr Genealogy Main Page: http://www.netunlimited.net/~wcr/main.html

> Searching for any and all information about Elizabeth Nix and Powell Lafayette Mitchell married 23 September, 1873, Union > County, Georgia. Powell died in 1932 in Greenville, NC and Elizabeth died in 1912 in Union County, GA. They had 8 children, > Cordelia, Susie, Sophroni, Alice, Aurthur, John, William and Charlie. Cordelia, my G.Grandmother was born 24 January, 1880, > at Blueridge, Union County, GA. She married Henry Lemuel Simmons on 24 April, 1904 and died in Atlanta, GA on 29 March, 1939. > > I would be interested in obtaining birth, death and/or marriage certificates for the about folks. > > Thanks! > > G.L. Aussie Thayer > St.Louis.MO > > Searching for Nix, Mitchell, Simmons, Sutles, Hines, Simmons/Temple.

Eastland is on IS-20 about 115 mi west of Ft. Worth, TX. Jack Co. is about 100 mi NE of Eastland on FM 281. ---------- > From: ATW825 <ATW825@aol.com> > To: NIX-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [NIX-L] NIX families in Texas > Date: Thursday, March 12, 1998 12:32 PM > > Where is Eastland co. Texas? I am looking for a Nix that may be aronud Jacks > co. or Harmon co. OK. > > > ==== NIX Mailing List ==== > Your Support Keeps RootsWeb Free! > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html

ATW825 wrote: > > Where is Eastland co. Texas? I am looking for a Nix that may be aronud Jacks > co. or Harmon co. OK. > > ==== NIX Mailing List ==== > Your Support Keeps RootsWeb Free! > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html Hi, Eastland Co., is a couple hours sw of Ft Worth and se of Abilene. Does anyone have information on Allen Nix and Estelle Trotter Nix(she was b. 1881 in McKinney, Collin Co., Tx) they were married in 1902 in Oklahoma Territory? I'm looking for Allen's parents? Karen Prince

I have a question, does anybody have Nix families that lived in Eastland co, Tx prior to 1900 or after?? Thanks, Bev

Chris, Glad you posted your query. During you research do you know of any other Nix families that also went to Ga? I have learned over the years that families travelled together, brothers, sisters and sometimes extended families. I am trying to find the parents of Mary Julia Nix who was born in Arkadelphia, Ark on 7/30/1858. Crossing fingers, Bev OKDouble 7 wrote: > > In a message dated 98-03-11 16:00:35 EST, you write: > > << I have land records for the NIX family in Laurens County, South Carolina > from 1793 until 1833. The census records seem to indicate that the NIX > migration route was determined by 2 things. First when the land they > farmed wore out and second when new Cherokee lands were opened. >> > > My Nix family seems to fit into the migration pattern you described but I > can't find any connection to yours. > > I have: Cisro Valentine Nix and his wife Cynthia R. Smith, both born in SC > 1822&1825. Their children were Irena & Francis born in SC and Perry, William, > John, Martha, James Layfette (my line), and Louisa, all born in Ga. > This family came to Georgia in mid 1840s and were in Cherokee County on census > for 1850,60,70,80. Cisro Valentine was in Civil War, captured at Vicksburg. > > Their son, James Layfette (b 1858 Ga) married Nancy Adoline Seabolt. Their > children were John, Cynthia, Virgil (my line) and Mary (Maggie) born in Ga. > and Walter and Plumer born in Ala. According to my grandfather they went > from Georgia to Alabama before moving on to Collin Co., Texas in mid 1890s. > > Most of these Nixes stayed in Texas except my grandfather Virgil Nix who moved > his family to Oklahoma in 1909. > > Chris Rodriguez > OKDouble7@aol.com > > ==== NIX Mailing List ==== > Reminder: If you change e-mail addresses, unsubscribe from the old one and subscribe again with the new one.

Early American Trails and Roads... Continued. See "Early American Trails and Roads: Part 1" for details. THE MOHAWK (IROQUOIS) TRAIL The Mohawk Trail of New York, also known as the Iroquois Trail, extended from Albany west to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where Buffalo is now located. This was the most northerly route through the Appalachian Mountains, leading from New York's Hudson Valley along the Mohawk River on to the Great Lakes. It was used heavily by New York's early emigrants and was much involved with the state's early history. Today's maps show the travel route as the New York Thruway (I-90) from Albany west. From about 1680 the French-Iroquois Country was a major stronghold. A wagon trail reached from Albany to Lake Erie after the French and Indian War and became a part of the route followed by Loyalists into Upper Canada, later to become Ontario. The Mohawk Turnpike opened as far as Utica by 1793. In the 1820s this route became that of the Erie Canal, and in 1845 it became the route of the New York Central Railroad. THE MORMON TRAIL The Mormon Trail stretched nearly 1,400 miles across prairies, sagebrush flats, and steep mountains. Each had its challenges for the early wagon trains and the later handcarts. The Mormon Trail originated in Nauvoo, Illinois, and extended westward to Utah where they established Salt Lake City. In 1845, to allay violence and night-riding, Brigham Young and the Twelve agreed to leave Illinois "as soon as grass grows and water runs." From Nauvoo, the Saints crossed Iowa. Their first real way-station was at Garden Grove, where 170 men cleared 715 acres in three weeks, for the purpose of providing shelter for those coming behind. In 1846, they crossed the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, setting up Winter Quarters on Indian lands, at what is now an Omaha suburb. While 3,483 Saints waited there for spring, more than 600 perished. As spring 1847 approached, approximately 10,000 Mormons were encamped along the trail in Iowa and at Winter Quarters. Brigham Young and the Council of the Twelve organized the Pioneer Company to go ahead to mark the trail and lay the cornerstone of the new Zion. The first group of Mormons passed through Echo Canyon, over Big Mountain and Little Mountain and down Emigration Canyon, coming into full view of the Great Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. During the period from 1846 to 1869, about 60,000 Mormon pioneers crossed the prairies. They came from existing American states and also from many European countries. THE NATCHEZ TRACE The Natchez Trace has a colorful history. By 1785, there were traders from the Ohio River Valley (called "Kaintucks") arriving in Natchez with flatboats and rafts filled with products and crops. But of course it wasn't possible to return upriver against the currents. Instead, they would walk or ride horses northward on the Trace to their homes. Often they were attacked and robbed of the riches so recently gained. The Trace gained the nickname "Devil's Backbone." You might be able to locate the book which relates to that name. It is by Jonathan Daniels, "The Devil's Backbone, the Story of the Natchez Trace." The U.S. never owned the public lands of Tennessee through which about 100 miles of the Trace ran. In Alabama, it went only 40 miles, touching only two counties. 300 miles of it lay in Mississippi. The coming of steamboat traffic spelled the end of the dominance of the Natchez Trace. Andrew Jackson made a lot of trips up and down the Trace. In 1813 when he walked it with his army, he acquired the name "Old Hickory" because his volunteers considered him as tough as the hickory trees around them. Another significant name connected to the Trace is that of Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The question still lingers--was his death on the Trace suicide or murder? THE NATIONAL ROAD The National Road was originally called the Cumberland Road because it started in Cumberland, Maryland. By 1825, it was referred to as the National Road because of its federal funding. The enabling act for admission of Ohio to the Union in 1803 contained provisions for construction of a road linking the East and West. Congress then passed "An Act to Regulate the Laying Out and Making a Road from Cumberland, in the State of Maryland, to the State of Ohio." In 1811, contracts were signed for construction of the first ten miles west of Cumberland. The road reached Wheeling in 1818. It entered Columbus in 1833, and Congress made its last appropriation for the road in 1838. During the 1830s, Congress had begun to turn the road over to the states for administration and maintenance. Construction was suspended in the early 1840s because of lack of congressional appropriations. Indiana completed its intrastate segment in 1850. The road then continued on to Vandalia, Illinois, but it did not continue on to Jefferson City, Missouri, as had been planned, the idea being that the road was to go through state capitals as it moved westward. The old National Road became part of U.S. 40 in 1926. THE OREGON TRAIL The Oregon Trail extended from the Missouri River to the Willamette River. It was used by nearly 400,000 people. The trail's starting points were Independence, Westport, St. Joseph, and Ft. Leavenworth. Alternate routes included Sublette's Cutoff and the Lander Cutoff. After 1846, there was also a choice at The Dalles between rafting down the Columbia River or taking the new Barlow Road across the Cascades. Each part of the journey had its set of unique difficulties. During the first third of the journey, emigrants got used to the routine and work of travel. Approaching the steep ascent to the Continental Divide, water, fuel, grass for the livestock, fresh meat, and food staples became scarce. The final third was the most difficult part of the trail. The major fears of the pioneers following the trail were Indians, disease, and the weather. THE PENNSYLVANIA ROAD The Great Conestoga Road, completed in 1741, and the later Lancaster Pike (opened in 1794) went from Philadelphia to Lancaster. After the Lancaster Pike was completed, the Pennsylvania Legislature granted charters to extend it westward to Pittsburgh, following closely the route of the Forbes Road. Faced with the need to build a road to move troops during the French and Indian War, General Forbes' troops constructed a road from Harrisburg to Ft. Duquesne which he renamed Fort Pitt, after his commanding general. Today, we know it as Pittsburgh. Years later, the Pennsylvania Legislature granted charters that extended the Lancaster Pike on westward to Pittsburgh, subsidizing this "Pennsylvania Road" by subscribing to stock in some of the companies. Migration moved westward through Fort Pitt as settlers trekked from eastern Pennsylvania and New England west to new lands and opportunities. The river-canal system which opened in 1834 between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh reduced traffic on Pennsylvania's turnpike. Heavy freight traffic diverted to the canals although stagecoach lines continued to prosper. THE SANTA FE TRAIL This trail from Missouri to Santa Fe was the oldest and the first over which wagons were used in the westward expansion beyond the Mississippi River. It was primarily a commerical route, carrying a stream of merchants' wagons until it was replaced ty the coming of the railroad in 1880. In 1821 a mule pack train had left from Franklin, Missouri, to travel to Santa Fe on what is later known at the Mountain Route. The next year's expedition avoided the mountains, leaving the Arkansas River and heading across the arid plains for the Cimarron River; this route became known as the Cimarron cutoff. During the early years of commerce, much of the route was within Mexican territory. Not until 1848 when the Mexican War ended was the entire trail officially within American territory. THE UPPER ROAD The Upper Road branched off from the King's Highway at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and went southwest through Hillsboro, Salisbury, and Charlotte in North Carolina, then on to Spartanburg and Greenville in South Carolina. The road generally followed the old Occaneechee Path which went from Bermuda Hundred on the James River, and Old Fort Henry (now Petersburg) southwest to the Indian trading town of the Occaneechi which existed by 1675 on an island in the Roanoke River at about the location of today's Clarksville, Virginia, close to the present Virginia and North Carolina state line. From that location the trading trail went both north and south. The Trading Path divided at the Trading Ford of the Yadkin River, one branch turning toward Charlotte, the other through Salisbury to Island Ford on the Catawba, to the north of present Lake Norman. DeSoto and his cavaliers were perhaps the first white men to use portions of the great Occaneechi Path (1540). Some of the people associated with Fort Henry were Col. Abraham Wood, Thomas Batts, Robert Fallam, James Needham, Gabriel Arthur, and John Lederer. From 1700-1750, active trading was carried on by white emigrants with Indian villages. After 1740, the proprietary governor of the Granville District began to issue grants to Quakers and others from the tidewater counties of North Carolina and Virginia, attracting them into the northern half of North Carolina. By 1750, the Upper Road became an important wagon route for southbound migrations into that portion of North Carolina. During the Revolutionary War, the road was used extensively for troop movements in the South--relating to the battles at Guilford Courthouse, King's Mountain, and Cowpens. THE WILDERNESS ROAD The road through the Cumberland Gap was not officially named "the Wilderness Road" until 1796 when it was widened enough to allow Conestoga Wagons to travel on it. However, by the time Kentucky had become a state (1792), estimates are that 70,000 settlers had poured into the area through the Cumberland Gap, following this route. The Cumberland Gap was first called Cave Gap by the man who discovered it in 1750--Dr. Thomas Walker. Daniel Boone, whose name is always associated with the Gap, reached it in 1769, passing through it into the Blue Grass region, a hunting ground of Indian tribes. He returned in 1775 with about 30 woodsmen with rifles and axes to mark out a road through the Cumberland Gap, hired for the job by the Transylvania Company. Boone's men completed the blazing of this first trail through the Cumberland Mountains that same year, and established Boonesborough on the Kentucky River. The Wilderness Road connected to the Great Valley Road which came through the Shenandoah Valley from Pennsylvania. Some suggest the origin of the Wilderness Road was at Fort Chiswell (Ft. Chissel) on the Great Valley Road where roads converged from Philadelphia and Richmond. Others claimed the beginning of the road to be at Sapling Grove (today's Bristol, VA) which lay at the extreme southern end of the Great Valley Road since it was at that point that the road narrowed, forcing travelers to abandon their wagons. ZANE'S TRACE In 1796 Colonel Ebenezer Zane petitioned Congress to authorize him to build a road from Wheeling to Limestone (Maysville). Congress awarded him a contract to complete a path between Wheeling and Limestone by January 1, 1797. The contract required him to operate ferries across three rivers as soon as the path opened. His only compensation was to be three 640-acre tracts, one at each river crossing, to be surveyed at his own expense. Zane rounded up equipment and a crew of workmen; with axes, they cut trees and blazed a trail. At first, Zane's Trace was merely a narrow dark path through the forest, between a wall of ancient trees. Only horsemen could travel over it. For many years, it was not wide enough for wagons. In 1804 the Legislature appropriated about fifteen dollars a mile to make a new twenty-foot road over Zane's route. But by modern standards, it was still a poor road because they left tree stumps whenever they were under one foot high. The Trace was used by hundreds of flatboatmen returning on foot or horseback to Pittsburgh and upriver towns from downriver ports as far away as New Orleans. The road also became the mail route from Wheeling to Maysville, and eventually it went on to Lexington and Nashville. =============end===============

The following was posted to another surname list I belong to. I found it to be interesting and thought it was worthy to pass along to this list. My apologies if this has been duplicated elsewhere...I am behind on reading all the genealogy lists I am on! ******************************************************************************** *************************************** (originally posted by Jim Young to the Bradshaw-L) I have found a very interesting website entitled "Early American Trails and Roads" and it can be found at: http://members.aol.com/RoadTrails/roadtrai.html It lists 16 trails representing the most significant routes in pioneer America. I'm sending the contents of the website to this list in case the website is disabled in the future. This way the information will be archived forever. Please visit the website for future updates. Happy Huntin' Jim Young List Moderator and RootsWeb Donor ========================== Early American Trails and Roads ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beverly Whitaker, your Genealogy Tutor, is located in Kansas City, Missouri. My e-mail address is: GenTutor@aol.com This page was last updated on February 10, 1998. Living here where major trails to the Far West began is what stirred my interest in this subject. My genealogical studies and research show me how important it is to try to determine the migration trails of our ancestors. So that's what led to this page! ~Introduction~ Expansion by Americans from the Atlantic to the Pacific took many years, often spanning generations. During the colonial years, travel was largely North-South. Following the Revolutionary War, citizens of the new nation began to forge westward and were often joined by newly arriving immigrants. Expansion occurred by different paths and a variety of transport means. Among the trails and roads of special interest to genealogists and historians are the sixteen described here in capsule form. These brief sketches are based on information contained in the author's set of "American Trails and Roads Reference Cards." Audiotapes have been prepared for a number of the trails and roads, along with one titled, "Leaving Home: Reasons for Migration." Recently, the author has made available a number of program kits which genealogical and historical societies are using to present programs at their meetings about some of the most significant migration routes in pioneer America. Here is a list of the trails for which I provide summary paragraphs on this web page: The Boston Post Road Braddock's Road The California Trail The Fall Line Road The Great Wagon Road The King's Highway The Mohawk (Iroquois) Trail The Mormon Trail The Natchez Trace The National Road The Oregon Trail The Pennsylvania Road The Santa Fe Trail The Upper Road The Wilderness Road Zane's Trace I welcome comments and suggestions for books and articles to read about early American migration routes, particularly the major ones. Or if you need information about one of the trails or roads (beyond what is shown on this page), send an e-mail inquiring about products on this subject. E-mail to Beverly Whitaker: GenTutor@aol.com ~How to Cite References~ If you include any of the information here in your own compiled genealogy or history sketches, you should cite as your reference: "American Trails and Roads Reference Cards, Kansas City, Missouri: Genealogy Tutor, Beverly Whitaker, 1995." THE BOSTON POST ROAD A crude riding trail was created in 1673 to carry mail from New York to Boston. It became known as the Boston Post Road. The first postrider's round trip, a journey of over 250 miles, took four weeks, following the Upper Northern Route. The Middle Route was a bit shorter, the Southern Route a bit longer. All went from Boston to New York City. The first stagecoach in service (1772) made the trip in just one week. During the Revolutionary War, the King's Highway (which included the Boston Post Road) became the mustering point for several of the Revolutionary War battles, including the final battle at Yorktown. The Post Roads were used for maneuvering soldiers and equipment. Stagecoach service and the mail took second place. Following the War, the Post Roads became important links between the states of the new nation and sections were improved. BRADDOCK'S ROAD The predecessor of this military road was called Nemaolin's Path, named for the Delaware Indian who assisted Colonel Thomas Cresap in blazing a path from Cumberland, Maryland to a trading post of the Ohio Company of Virginia at present-day Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Soon after Virginia's governor sent Major George Washington in that direction to expel the French from British territory. To accommodate his supply wagons, it was necessary to widen the trail, and that portion became known as Washington's Road. Washington went with Britain's Major General Edward Braddock during the French and Indian War. A company of 600 soldiers set out from Ft. Cumberland to widen Washington's old road through Maryland, past the ruins of Fort Necessity on into western Pennsylvania, moving toward the French stronghold at the Forks of the Ohio, site of present-day Pittsburgh. Braddock's road was the first road to cross overland through the Appalachian Mountains. He insisted that the road be 12 feet wide so that horse-drawn wagons could travel on it to haul the necessary supplies for his advancing army. As the years advanced, Braddock's Road became impassable. Pioneers who trekked into western Pennsylvania usually preferred to depend on packhorse trails, traveling in caravans. When construction began on the new Cumberland Road, it roughly followed this old road. The Cumberland Road and its extension West became known as the National Road and now U.S. Highway 40. CALIFORNIA TRAIL Following the discovery of gold in California, President James Polk's Message to Congress on December 5, 1848, set off a raging epidemic of gold fever. 40,000 gold seekers came to California by sea. An almost equal number came overland on the California-Oregon Trail, making the 2000-mile journey by covered wagon, horseback, or on foot. Around 10,000 came by the Santa Fe Trail into southern California. The most frequently traveled overland route to the gold fields was the one that followed the Oregon Trail from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains, and from there down the California Trail to Sutter's Fort. St. Joseph, Independence, Council Bluffs, and other frontier towns were jumping-off points to start this main trail overland to California. The trail coincided with the Oregon Trail until it crossed the Rockies. Then, some went north of the Great Salt Lake, others south, before coming together at the Humboldt River. Gold-seekers heading for California included city people who were inexperienced with outdoor life. Many were without experience at handling mules or oxen; they couldn't fix wagons; they didn't know how to hunt. They didn't anticipate the dangers of the trail and relied too heavily on guidebooks which were frequently misleading. Those who failed to join companies with experienced outsdoorsmen ran great risk of being stranded or lost in the wilderness. Nevertheless, many preferred to travel on their own. Some rode horses or mules, used ox-drawn wagons, or walked. THE FALL LINE ROAD The Fall Line Road ran parallel to and between the King's Highway and the Upper Road. The road broke off from the King's Highway at the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia. By 1735, it carried traffic into the interior of Virginia and the Carolina and across into Georgia. The road followed the fall line, a geographical feature caused by erosion, a separation line stretching from Maryland all the way to Georgia, running between the river tidelands and inland elevations on the Atlantic coast--it defines an east and west division between the upper and lower elevations. Persons traveling from Pennsylvania to Maryland to the inland areas of Carolina before 1750 probably followed this road because it was an easier road to travel than the Piedmont road (called the Upper Road). The road was of particular importance to the Carolinas because it connected them to their neighbors. North Carolina's local laws called for building roads only "to the nearest landing," which created a haphazard system of major roadways which led only to water routes. The result had been that although the major towns in North Carolina soon had roads, they didn't lead to each other! The road saw heavy use during the Civil War and afterwards, and was gradually improved. THE GREAT WAGON ROAD including THE GREAT VALLEY ROAD Hordes of early German and Scotch-Irish settlers used what became known as the Great Wagon Road to move from Pennsylvania southward through the Shenandoah Valley through Virginia and the Carolinas to Georgia, a distance of about 800 miles. Beginning first as a buffalo trail, a great Indian Road (the Great Warrior Path) ran north and south through the Shenandoah Valley, extending from New York to the Carolinas. The mountain ranges to the West of the Valley are the Alleghenies, and the ones to the east constitute the Blue Ridge chain. The Second Treaty of Albany (1722) guaranteed use of the valley trail to the Indians. At Salisbury, North Carolina, the Great Warrior Path was joined by the Indian's "Great Trading Path." By the early 1740s, a road beginning in Philadelphia (sometimes referred to as the Lancaster Pike) connected the Pennsylvania communities of Lancaster, York, and Gettysburg. The road then continued on to Chambersburg and Greencastle and southward to Winchester. In 1744, the Indians agreed to relinquish the Valley route. Both German and Scotch-Irish immigrants had already been following the route into Virginia and on to South Carolina, and Georgia. After 1750 the Piedmont areas of North Carolina and Georgia attracted new settlers. From Winchester to Roanoke the Great Wagon Road and the Great Valley Road were the same road, but at Roanoke, the Wagon Road went through the Staunton Gap and on south to North Carolina and beyond whereas the Valley Pike continued southwest to the Long Island of the Holston, now Kingsport. The Boone Trail from the Shallow Ford of the Yadkin joined the road at the Long Island of the Holston. THE KING'S HIGHWAY >From Boston to Charleston on the King's Highway was about 1300 miles. It was possible to travel this road by wagon, averaging about 20-25 miles per day. A traveler making the entire journey would have taken at least two months. Conestoga freight wagons, drawn by four to six strudy horses, were especially designed for mud with iron-rimmed wheels nearly a foot wide. The road's origins are traced to the old Delaware Indian trail (across Jersey) which Peter Stuyvesant used to force out the Swedes in 1651. Then in 1673, in response to King Charles' wish that communication be established between his colonies, the first crude riding trail was created for mail service between Boston and New York. Named the "Boston Post Road," it eventually expanded into "the King's Highway." By 1750, a continuous road existed for stagecoach or wagon traffic from Boston to Charleston, linking all thirteen colonies, but the road was a difficult one to travel. During the Revolutionary War, the King's Highway as a link between the colonies helped them to coordinate their war efforts. However, the name was looked upon with such disfavor by American patriots that many began once again to use the name "Boston Post Road." ----------------See Part 2----------------------------

In a message dated 98-03-12 13:50:25 EST, you write: << I found living with my JAMES family on the 1850 Cherokee County GA census was a Mary NIX age 40 born in S.Carolina. >> Terri, your Mary Nix is the right age to be related to my Cisro Valentine Nix, living in Cherokee Co. in 1850. He was born 1825 in SC. He was enumerated in the 15th District in 1850. I think this later became the CrossRoads area where he lived in 1860,70,80. I have nothing on his bro & sis.

My mother's maiden name was Nix. My great grandfather was Jim Nix and he married a woman from Tishomingo County named Silona Tatum. Jim Nix was born in 1870 in Alabama or Georgia. The census records records in Pontotoc County list Alabama one time and Georgia the next. I have a copy of his death certificate and it list his place of birth as Alabama. Jim's father was supposedly a man named Gaylord or Gorlord. I have not been able to find either name listed anywhere. I do know that Jim Nix moved his family to Texas at one time because of relatives out there but his wife was a very unhappy person living so far from her family that they moved back to Pontotoc and stayed ther until their deaths. Both returned to Tishomingo County to be buried. They are buried next to several children that died at or sometime after birth. Her cousin, uncle, Henry and her grandparents Jonathan and Mary are also buried there. Her parents are not and neither is Jim Nix's parents. I have found what I believe to be either his sister or a very close relative named Rosie Clemintine Nix Searcy in the Tishomingo County Mississippi Records. The children of this Rosie Nix Searcy and my great grandfather Jim Nix have several repeating names. Among those are Rosie, Claud, Clyde, John, Oscar, and William. Jims's middle name was supposedly Irvin. The entire Nix family supposedly moved around quite alot. Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas. I know my great Aunt Amie and her sisters eventually wound up staying in Texas. If anyone has heard of a Gaylord or Gorlord Nix could you please let me know.Silona was Daniel Tatum's neice, who was from Monroe County and the daughter of William B. Tatum born in rutherford County Tennessee. Anything anyone finds out would be grately appreciated. Thanks, Sungja Collins

I found living with my JAMES family on the 1850 Cherokee County GA census was a Mary NIX age 40 born in S.Carolina.. Does anyone know of her???? Thanks Terri email terrigem@aol.com

Where is Eastland co. Texas? I am looking for a Nix that may be aronud Jacks co. or Harmon co. OK.

In a message dated 98-03-12 10:31:27 EST, you write: << Nix families that also went to Ga? >> I don't have any records of who Cisro Valentine Nix'es bro & sisters or parents were. But, I do remember seeing other Nixes in Ga. when I studied census records. Living nearby Cisro in 1850 in Cherokee Co. was John L. Nix (b 1801 SC) and his wife Elvira (b1800 SC). I have always felt this might be Cisro's father. Others in this area were Thomas Nix (b 1819 SC) and his wife Bonnetta and three children. Also in the same area in 1850 in Cherokee Co. Ga were Elizabeth Ann (Nix) Lindsey and her husband Lawson C. Lindsey and their daughter Josephine, age 1. This couple wound up having 10 children and Elizabeth died in 1875 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her husband and children then moved to Grayson Co., Texas about 1880 or 1881. Someone years ago sent me this information about Elizabeth Nix. Because of her age, birthplace and residence in Cherokee Co., I thought she might be Cisro's sister. Another Nix in Cherokee Co. in 1850 was Charley Nix, b 1776 SC, and his wife Sarah, b 1775 SC. I have felt that Charley(age 74 on 1850 census) was the father of John L. Nix (age 49 in 1850) and that John L. was the father of Cisro Valentine (age 25 in 1850), Thomas, Elizabeth Ann and somewhere I picked up the name of a Nancy Nix in this area at the same time. By the way, Valentine was used as a name for Nix men several times. There was a Valentine Nix listed on the Georgia land lottery, I think about 1827. There were several Nixes who got land in the Ga. land lottery. There were also other Nixes in Cherokee Co., in 1850 but not living in the close vicinity of these that I've mentioned above. They were Hiram Nix, Mary Nix, Larkin Nix and another John Nix with a large family. There were also a number of Nix families in Habersham Co., Ga in 1840. Hope all this helps. Chris Rodriguez