With regards to migration of families from Cannon County - I read a book years ago on the subject of migration. One thing stuck with me - people who are comfortable with their circumstance don't tend to move. So I gather our ancestors were getting 'uncomfortable' with their environment. My Markum and Sullins families tended to have large families. The family of Charles Markum numbered twelve children, eleven surviving. Just after the 1900 census they all boarded a wagon to the nearest railroad and traveled by train to Falls County, Texas - just south of Waco. There they farmed and some continued the pattern brought from Tennessee - the sons stayed with the head of the family and helped on the farm. In this case, the youngest sons joined the war efforts and when they returned, they no longer wanted to farm. I've visited Cannon County, where my grandfather J.B.Markum was born. I wondered, too, why he and his parents left such a beautiful place. Kathleen Rheman ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

My forefather's also lived in Cannon County (Wilson, Rutherford too). Why did they leave? Dad is 90 and here's what he says......Tennessee was in turmoil after the Civil War. It was brother against brother, men who never came home from war, farms left fallow if even tillable, gov't in disarray and chaos all around. My own family was a part of a huge wagon train that left Cannon County in about 1870 and finally settled in the Freestone County, TX area. The family migration continued well in the 20th century. Land was wide open "out west" and the southern sympathies were aplenty. Families were large and to divide land in TN became challenging. Land was more available and there was lots of it out west. I might also add that a degree of lawlessness continued in TN well into the 20th century. My grandparents both said that the Sheriff pretty much stayed in town and didn't venture out into the country much. Country folk took care of their own. Also, Cannon County, to my knowledge, never raised a Union Company to fight in the CW. Confederate sympathies were very strong within the county. Sherrie Paty Barber ----- Original Message ----- From: <Rhemann3566@aol.com> To: <tncannon@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 7:05 AM Subject: Re: [TNCANNON] TNCANNON Digest, Vol 2, Issue 109 > With regards to migration of families from Cannon County - I read a book > years ago on the subject of migration. One thing stuck with me - people > who are > comfortable with their circumstance don't tend to move. So I gather our > ancestors were getting 'uncomfortable' with their environment. My Markum > and > Sullins families tended to have large families. The family of Charles > Markum > numbered twelve children, eleven surviving. Just after the 1900 census > they all > boarded a wagon to the nearest railroad and traveled by train to Falls > County, > Texas - just south of Waco. There they farmed and some continued the > pattern > brought from Tennessee - the sons stayed with the head of the family and > helped on the farm. In this case, the youngest sons joined the war > efforts and > when they returned, they no longer wanted to farm. I've visited Cannon > County, > where my grandfather J.B.Markum was born. I wondered, too, why he and his > parents left such a beautiful place. > > Kathleen Rheman > > > > ************************************** See what's free at > http://www.aol.com. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TNCANNON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

We may be over complicating something that is very simple. Why did the Europeans come here in the 1st place? Why did they leave the east coast? Why are Ks of illegal aliens in my town of Irving today? MONEY ECONOMICS A better and easier life for them and their families. 95% of all migrations thru history.... maybe I should back that up a notch and make it read SURVIVAL, but it is the same thing. Add PERSECUTION, usually religious, and you have another 3-4% While a very attractive area compared to the bare plains of Texas, can you imagine trying to scratch out a living on the rocky hillsides w/o power equioment? And, oh, yes, about the sheriff staying in town: Several years ago during my 1st visit to Cannon, I wanted to visit the large cave system that goes by several names but was the favorite site for family gatherings in the 1880s and later. One of my local cousins escorted me and as we scrambled up the ridge leaving we came upon a LARGE marijuana patch..... uh-huh, we got out of there forgetting how winded we were from the climb! Joe

My most recent Cannon County ancestor was my 3g-grandfather, Martin L. Blair (1827-1865?). He married Sarah Turney (1831 - betw 1880-1890) who was from nearby DeKalb county. His brother, William Blair (1823-1863), married Sarah's sister Elizabeth (1827-1889). The two couples left Cannon County about 1848 for Searcy County, Arkansas. The Turney sisters had some uncles and aunts living there already. I don't know why they moved, and I speculate it was more "pull" than "push" -- nice land available in Arkansas. Do other people on this list have ancestors who moved to the Ozarks around this same time? - Heather http://hblair.uchicago.edu/ On Sat, 19 May 2007 Rhemann3566@aol.com wrote: > With regards to migration of families from Cannon County - I read a book > years ago on the subject of migration. One thing stuck with me - people who are > comfortable with their circumstance don't tend to move. So I gather our > ancestors were getting 'uncomfortable' with their environment. My Markum and > Sullins families tended to have large families. The family of Charles Markum > numbered twelve children, eleven surviving. Just after the 1900 census they all > boarded a wagon to the nearest railroad and traveled by train to Falls County, > Texas - just south of Waco. There they farmed and some continued the pattern > brought from Tennessee - the sons stayed with the head of the family and > helped on the farm. In this case, the youngest sons joined the war efforts and > when they returned, they no longer wanted to farm. I've visited Cannon County, > where my grandfather J.B.Markum was born. I wondered, too, why he and his > parents left such a beautiful place. > > Kathleen Rheman > > > > ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TNCANNON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >