> I can't answer for everyone and I'm sure there are many reasons why people > moved from one area to another. Our Autrey's and connected lines came to > Texas from Louisiana, Alabama and other states because the land was cheap > and after the Civil War, many had lost almost everything. People wanted to > start over, so many times they moved west to find new opportunities, unite > with other family members or former neighbors, and a lot of other reasons. > I have studied migrations as they relate to my family, though I still understand little. I have one group of ancestors and cousins that came to present Bowie County in the late 1830s and early 1840s from Fairfield District South Carolina. It seems that the desirable land was the Sulfur River bottom. Fevers must have run rampant there in the days before the mosquito relationship was understood; cemeteries are full of children and young people. Many families lost half their children. Or more. Another, apparently un-associated, group of ancestors and cousins went from Fairfield District to Troup County Georgia in the 1820s; from Troup County, some went to Claiborne Parrish between 1850 and 1855. I have noticed several other Troup-Claiborne connects in apparently unrelated families. I sure wish I knew how well these folks knew one another and how they influenced each other. My interests in Clairborne are McKemie/McKamie, Proctor, Smith, and no doubt others that I am not aware of. My interests in Bowie are Moores, Janes, Whitaker, McKemie/McKamie, Gaither, Watts, Rochelle, Rosborough, Godbold, Harrison, and a plethora of others. -- Onward! Through the Fog! Willie http://austinfarm.org/homegrown