Thought this is might help to understand the movement and connections of some of the early families you are talking about. Sarah and others, In the colonial period what is now Route 11 in Virginia was known as the Great Wagon Road. This road served to move people from the colony of Pennsylvania down into Maryland, Virginia and into western North Carolina and what is now eastern Tennessee. It is possible that many of the people in Augusta and the other valley counties were from Pennsylvania or at least entered there. You should also keep in mind that Augusta was one of the two original counties west of the Blue Ridge. Frederick was formed in 1743 and Augusta in 1744. (note at this time what is now Campbell was part of Lunenburg Co) Both Frederick and Augusta covered far more area than they have today. I am not sure of the exact date on this but during the 1700s prior to the French and Indian war the government of Virginia offered people settling on the frontier ( think line where 29 now is including what is now Campbell) the right to worship in their own church instead of the Church of England and no taxes for ten years. These people were to serve as buffer from the Indians for the more developed areas. Finally people have started over the years to do studies of migration to the western area. When you look at these you find that people travel not alone but in groups. The groups are often made up of relatives and sometimes you will see the same families move several times together. They also seem to be in better contact than we would believe. I have a family in my own line where one brother goes to New Jersey and one to Virginia- 2 generations later parts of both families are in Fountain County Indiana. And you do have men going back where they were from to marry. This is more true in the families who tend to marry their cousins. Hope this might help someone with their research, Marilyn PS the Campbell people I am researching are my husbands and some of them never left. I have the families that moved.

As a genealogist and historian, I really love studying the westward migration of Americans. My Hobson ancestors, though not of Campbell Co., are a typical example of the early American migrant. My Hobsons, who were Quaker, migrated from Chester Co., PA to Frederick Co., VA, where they lived for a few years as farmers. Then they moved on with other Quaker settlers to Orange Co., NC. After a generation there, they decided to move westward. They went on a route followed by many Quaker families -- over the mountains near Fancy Gap, travelling on the Kanawha Trace down the New River to the Kanawha River and finally to the Ohio River. They finally settled in Wilmington, OH, where my 6th great-grandfather built the first house there. Only one of his children moved South from there -- my 5th great-grandfather, Samuel Hobson, who came to AL in about 1837. You are right -- these families generally moved in groups. I see it even in my AL ancestors, who moved from NC to Bibb Co., AL, and then to Jefferson Co., AL. You see the same names over and over -- in my case, Tingle, Crews, Greathouse, Caddell, Hobson, etc. The migrations make very interesting study. Jean Spradlin-Miller ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marilyn J. Jackson" <marilyn@cavtel.net> To: <vacampbe@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 6:37 AM Subject: [VACAMPBE] Great Wagon Road and other things > Thought this is might help to understand the movement and connections of > some of the early families you are talking about. > Sarah and others, > In the colonial period what is now Route 11 in Virginia was known as > the Great Wagon Road. This road served to move people from the colony > of Pennsylvania down into Maryland, Virginia and into western North > Carolina and what is now eastern Tennessee. It is possible that many of > the people in Augusta and the other valley counties were from > Pennsylvania or at least entered there. > > You should also keep in mind that Augusta was one of the two original > counties west of the Blue Ridge. Frederick was formed in 1743 and > Augusta in 1744. (note at this time what is now Campbell was part of > Lunenburg Co) Both Frederick and Augusta covered far more area than > they have today. > > I am not sure of the exact date on this but during the 1700s prior to > the French and Indian war the government of Virginia offered people > settling on the frontier ( think line where 29 now is including what is > now Campbell) the right to worship in their own church instead of the > Church of England and no taxes for ten years. These people were to > serve as buffer from the Indians for the more developed areas. > > Finally people have started over the years to do studies of migration to > the western area. When you look at these you find that people travel > not alone but in groups. The groups are often made up of relatives and > sometimes you will see the same families move several times together. > They also seem to be in better contact than we would believe. I have a > family in my own line where one brother goes to New Jersey and one to > Virginia- 2 generations later parts of both families are in Fountain > County Indiana. And you do have men going back where they were from to > marry. This is more true in the families who tend to marry their cousins. > > Hope this might help someone with their research, > > Marilyn > > PS the Campbell people I am researching are my husbands and some of them > never left. I have the families that moved. > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > VACAMPBE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

>>In the colonial period what is now Route 11 in Virginia was known as the >>Great Wagon Road. This road served to move people from the colony of >>Pennsylvania down into Maryland, Virginia and into western North Carolina >>and what is now eastern Tennessee. It is possible that many of the >>people in Augusta and the other valley counties were from Pennsylvania or >>at least entered there.<< Marilyn Thanks so much for this! There's a website of old maps at http://www.tngenweb.org/maps/index.html but somewhere there is a migration pattern, I can't find it in my black hole.....