I can't find any specific information on this question. 19th century records clearly show that a number of people in the town of Bolton had large prosperous farms atleast by upstate NY standards, worth $1200 - $2000 in 1850, I thought I'd heard sizes of 300 acres, on Federal Hill of all places to put 300 acre farms. My mother, who grew up in Glens Falls, and my brother and I, who grew up in Bolton Landing, all grew up believing that the land in Bolton is thin, rocky and hilly and not arable. 19th century records and what I have of the genealogies of the 19th century families of Bolton show that these people nearly all came from Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and in some cases Rhode Island in the late 18th to early 19th century. I can find only a few clues; a half paragraph history of Bolton says that the town was first settled by farmers from New England after the Revolutionary War, land in New England wasn't real arable either, everyone whose presence in Bolton traces to the time of the Revolutionary War fought in the Revolutionary War, and a whole bunch of families seem to have come from Vermont between 1837 and 1838 and settled on Federal Hill and been buried in the "New Vermont Cemetery". What brought them is a mystery. I looked at my brother and said the vague things anyone has ever told me; something about mountains and proximity to New England. Which explains little because all of that part of New England and "Yorkers" hated each other's guts during the Revolutionary War period as well as the period that led up to it and existed in a virtual state of cold war. Another inconsistency; Bolton is supposed ot have existed when Ethan Allen's troops passed through the town DURING the Revolutionary War, which is not consistent with the notion that it was founded by people who had fought in that war. I also pointed out to my brother that New Englanders wouldn't necessarily think that the land in Bolton was poor quality for farming since it resembled most land in New England and that indeed that might help explain why people from more fertile areas to the south did NOT settle in Bolton. None of that really tells me why New Englanders came to Bolton. My whole family vants to know. Dora __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/