I am very interested in the question of moving from Northampton in the 1760's. The Peter Draschel family came to America in 1733 from Alsace. they were ealier from Switzerland where two old family houses still stand.They settled in area of Northampton Co. which would later become Allentown, Lehigh Co. In 1744 they built a large stone house which still stands today.They lived in the Jordan River Valley, had plentiful game and good crops.They built a large stone barn behind the house and were prosperous farmers. the name had become Troxell during this period. All the family, except two sons, leave all this behind in 1767 and move to Emmitsburg, Maryland and Adams Co.,Pa. The new home in Adams co. (then York) is hilly, stoney and not prosperous. Other German families from Allentown area move there also. Son Daniel Troxal goes back to Allentown every few years.His son Jacob serves in the Rev. War from Northasmpton Co., moves back to Adams Co. and then in 1800 goes with all his family to Westmoreland Co., again in a rocky hilly area south of Greensburg where today Central Cemetery is located. (Called variously Scheibler/Draschel/Truxal/Feitner Cemetery.)Troxel becomes Truxal/Truxel at this point. The sudden move in 1767 from rich farmland toa poorer area is something that cannot be answered by land suddenly opened for settlement. I can imagine a waunder lust son or two doing this but not the whole family. They must have felt threatened by something ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phil Knox" <pknox@earthlink.net> To: <PAWESTMO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 2:09 AM Subject: Moving ever Westward... > When (what year) did these families arrive in Westmoreland Co., > PA & why? > > I think you will find that 1769 was when the western lands over the > mountains were opened for settlement by the colonial authorities in > eastern Pennsylvania. Many came soon thereafter from all parts of eastern > Pennsylvania of which old Northampton was a large part. (it hadn't been > split up into smaller counties yet). Many of the Germanic types from > Alsace and the Palatinate that had arrived in America 20-30 years or more > earlier had settled on free land in old Northampton and to a large degree > it was their off spring that ventured westward over the mountains into the > wilderness for the free land being offered there. This good free land had > become much less available in the east. Westmoreland itself became a > Pennsylvania county four years later, in 1773. > > Phil > > Phil Knox <pknox@earthlink.net> > My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~pknox/ > My genealogical database on WorldConnect: > http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=pknox > NOTE: E-mail and attachments are automatically scanned by McAfee Antivirus > software. > > ______________________________