In a message dated 6/4/01 5:49:34 AM !!!First Boot!!!, historybuff123@hotmail.com writes: << To sum up: Where would the English/Scotch-Irish Americans go in early AL/MS besides Natches? >> My folks came into Madison County, AL in 1809 from VA by way of 3 counties in KY. This was 10 years before Alabama became a state. They migrated from there to Franklin Co., AL and settled in Newburg. Gen. John Coffee was surveyor general of the state. My g-g-g-grandfather, Stewart Jackson who lived in Center Star, Lauderdale Co., AL was also a surveyor working under John. Stewart married a neice of John. They had a son who was a chain bearer. Read somewhere, can't ever remember where, that the land in VA was wearing out. That folks migrated because they needed more land to support family and slaves. I always thought the "Black Belt" was so named for the rich land in that part of the state. According to the book "Letters from Alabama 1817 - 1822" by Anne Royall. " HUNTSVILLE It takes its name from a man called Captain Hunt, who built the first cabin on the spot, where the Court House now stands, in 1802." Anne Royall was America's first female journalist. Very interesting book. I checked it out at the library. Betty.