>I think the big reason to move West was cheap open land. Most of these >people were having big families, 10 or more kids. The oldest son would get >the parent's farm, the rest would move on. One thing that surprises me >about many of my ancestors, is how all the kids would split up and go >different places. One would think they would try to buy land near each >other. >Fred > >I guess everyone's different. I find that most of my families that left NJ for PA stayed very close and lived very near each other. They moved together (with cousins) to OH then on to IA. The family links were very strong and sib's named their children after each other (making things a bit confusing). However several distinctive names have helped a lot in tracing the families as they did finally begin to break off into different counties and states. Betsey Heath Howes > >LEWIS, MITCHELL, DOUGLASS, YOUNG, JACKSON, LOVERIDGE, OGDEN, HARRIS, CONGER, BRIANT etc...