The families were large, and needed more land to survive. The next generation of many of these families would move on to Ohio and further west. Imagine how overcrowed eastern PA would have been had all these large families stayed, married, and had large families of their own. Even families described as "farmers" didn't necessarily farm for a living. They "farmed" to survive rather than making a living selling grain and they didn't exactly eat as well as we do today. Remember, these people didn't have tractors. They walked around with a bag and threw out seed. They also raised animals, which could graze on poor soil if the farm were large enough, and they hunted for the meat as well as the pelts. The Truxals (etc.) may have had other occupations such as shoemakers, saddle makers, merchants, lawyers, doctors, weavers, gunsmiths, etc. Greensburg was fairly prosperous. There were also coal fields around Greensburg. None of my ancestors who resided in the area did poorly, although within a couple of generations many moved on -- the members of the families who did stay didn't seem to starve to death. Families or parts of them did move on as land opened up for settlement. Another thing to take into consideration with German families is that they tended to isolate themselves a bit as they did not speak the same language as many of the people surrounding them. Debbie 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