Concerning your question about bride-seeking males, presumably of colonial days: I attended a lecture some years given by a well-known genealogist lecturer-author (and head of the genealogy section of the Dallas Public Library) who maintained that men in search of a bride generally floated downstream. How did he get home? Well, said Lloyd D. Bockstruck, he was so infatuated that he had no trouble rowing home! I do find when researching my colonials that it is important to note on what watercourse (creek, run, swamp, etc.) they patented land (or purchased land, as the case may be) and then I collect other *suspicious characters* who had land on or near that watercourse at approximately the same time period. Also, I find that they DID indeed intermarry and sometimes migrate together. Even if the watercourse is not mentioned in the patent, it may be mentioned in a subsequent deed. In fact, when I was trying to help an NSDAR applicant sort out two men of the same name, who, unfortunately lived in adjoining counties, the DAR staff member (professional genealogist) said I had to determine on which watercourse each lived and who the associates of each one were. That lesson has stayed with me!! It took a lot of searching because these were NOT my ancestors. I did have a list of the spouses of the patriot's children, and those surnames helped me sort out the two men--and I did find the watercourse. She became a member! Whew! Hope this helps. E.W.Wallace southern California