Dear Joyce and list: I also had family (LUFF) who moved from Jefferson Co to MIchigan in 1848. >From what I've read of the period, several things were going on: There was a fire in Sackets Harbor in 1843 that probably slowed the economy. Also, I think this was close to the time when the railroad bypassed Sackets Harbor, going between Rome and Watertown. Property prices had reached their peak before the War of 1812, which adversely affected trade with Canada of course. The paths of migration continued west to Ohio and Michigan, and upstate New York never developed as people first had hoped. In the West (MIchigan and Wisconsin) there was tremendous development of natural resources, and expansion of the Great Lakes trade in the mid to late 1800's, with the rise of Chicago as a commodities market. Lumber was being extensively harvested in Michigan, so there were jobs for lumbermen (two collateral lines), shipbuilding (LUFF and sons), and related marine jobs. I think many people went for the shift in economy and jobs. More opportunity seemed to be in the West. I had another family of ancestors (DAMUTH) who all went to Fort Atkinson, WI soon after the Luffs went to Marine City (formerly Newport), MI, north of Detroit on the St. Clair River, leading to Lake Huron. There was extensive mining going on in the WI Mesabi Range and new towns springing up. - Linda Eastman