From Endicot take rt fourty to rt eight to rt fiftyeight to Hillsville then seventyseven goes all the way to Beckly West Virginia. Have you tried the tiger map? Beckly is in Raliegh. You would have to cross Lover's Leap Mountain. Or go to Christiansburg on eightyone. I do not know how long these roads have been around. Jody and Rhonda ----- Original Message ----- From: Gary & Deb <grif@ctsi.net> To: <VAFRANKL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 8:46 AM Subject: Re: [VAFRANKL] Franklin County Migration Summary > Concerning the migration of my ancestors from Franklin County, VA to > Raleigh County, WV. If I were about 32 years old living in Endicott > VA area with a wife and five young kids around 1852, any ideas on > what roads, trails, paths etc. I would have taken from Endicott VA to > the Cool Ridge WV area? > > > > Gary Griffith > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <NPeters102@aol.com> > To: <VAFRANKL-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 12:36 PM > Subject: [VAFRANKL] Franklin County Migration Summary > > > > Horace Greeley did not need to tell us to go west. From the time our > > ancestors landed on our eastern shores at places such as Plymouth > Rock & > > Jamestown there had been expansion westward. Some even entitled this > westward > > movement Manifest Destiny -- the belief that territorial expansion > of the > > United States was both inevitable and divinely ordained. > > > > For some reason there was a mass exodus of families from Franklin > County, VA > > just prior to the Civil War. Much of the migration was to parts of > VA that > > would become WV with the impending war. The populations of Boone, > Fayette, > > Kanawha, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh and Wyoming Counties grew > as a > > result. > > > > Franklin County researcher Otis Scott, who was the first to make me > aware of > > the Franklin County exodus writes, "I can not begin to come up with > a reason > > so many families moving to WV. It is sort of westward but you would > expect > > people to move to TN or the OH Valley. Would the farming lands there > been > > that much of an improvement over Franklin? I am familiar with those > parts of > > WV and they are similar to Franklin as far as the lay of the land." > > > > There seems to be no singular reason, according to our little study, > for why > > our ancestors moved from Franklin to set up housekeeping in future > WV > > counties. What follows is my attempt at summarizing the reasons put > forth by > > fellow researchers on the subject. > > > > Employment and the dream of a better life seemed to be the most > popular > > responses given for migration. > > > > According to Jackie Sink Mygatt, "The stories my father tells, that > were > > related to him by his grandpa, were that jobs were hard to come by > and my > > ancestor went in search of same." > > > > Patty Smith says her families came to the areas that are now > Tazewell, > > Mercer, Wyoming and McDowell Counties. She speculates, "From some of > the data > > I have on the Cockrans, they appeared to have owned quite a bit of > land in VA > > ... But I think the children/sons in particular moved on in hopes of > free > > land grants & starting a new life for themselves." > > > > Ed W., another researcher, says that "farming was the main way of > making a > > living. All of the land was in use by the parents of these people. > Since it > > took a lot a land to make a living, the only option was to go where > there was > > available land." > > > > June, a researcher from the Fayette County list, says some of her > relatives > > migrated first to Monroe County and then on to Fayette County. She > explains > > the second leg of the journey in the following manner: > > > > "We were always told that our ancestors came to Beards Fork to work > at the > > big "ban mills," that is the saw mills ... I have some photos from > the > > timbering days. The size of the treestumps is staggering. Three > grown men > > could sit comfortably side-by-side on one, all facing the camera. > The virgin > > forests our ancestors saw must have been a truly impressive sight! > Needless > > to say, it is now difficult to find a tree more than about 150 years > old in > > Fayette County and they are absolutely dwarfed by the trees I see in > these > > photos." > > > > Diane Kuras talks about a different kind of employment awaiting our > > ancestors. "I believe there were others from the area (Franklin > County) who > > went to the Kanawha area, perhaps due to employment at the salt > mines." > > > > There was also mention of illegal employment. Cathy, of the Wyoming > County > > lists, talks about a professor at Clemson University who labels > early > > Franklin County as the "moonshine capital of the world" and says > that there > > was constant expansion of its "trade routes into backwood areas." > > > > Peter Ramsey, a Franklin County researcher, says that our relatives > may not > > have been seeking a better life but may have instead been running > from a > > previous one. He explains in the following way: > > > > "Some of the folks may also have moved west to escape the law. There > are some > > cases of murder and bigamy in that list that I could relate and are > perhaps > > others." > > > > Audrey Johnson sent an E-mail on the Perdues and Leffews in which > she also > > mentions her grandfather, James H. Goforth. His migration does not > fit our > > criteria since it occurred a little later & since he was coming from > Wilkes > > County, NC instead of Franklin County, VA. However, his case still > deserves > > consideration. From Audrey's E-mail comes the following: > > > > "My grandfather was on his way to Wyoming to homestead when he saw > my > > grandmother out sweeping her mother's porch. He turned to his friend > with > > whom he was traveling and said, I am not going another step further. > I am > > going to stay right here and marry that pretty girl." > > > > James Goforth never did make it to Wyoming County. He married Nancy > Catherine > > Perdue & they lived in Brushfork, just outside of Bluefield in > Mercer County. > > Seems love is a migration factor we also need to consider. > > > > I received between 75-100 responses to my Franklin County migration > query. > > I'd like to thank the following people for their contributions and > help in > > compiling the list: > > > > Sandy Spradling > > Kathy Thomas > > Regina Gray > > Sherry Drew > > Sharon Phillips Belenski > > Brenda Chatterton > > June (settleciocca@earthlink.net) > > Jack Spangler > > Jim Hartman > > Rhonda Palmer > > Peter Ramsey > > Wayne Witt Bates > > tsadams@alltel.net > > French Campbell > > Deirdre Mercer > > Almeda Lappin > > Patty Smith > > Diane Kuras > > Carrol Hurley Ullrich > > Angela Griffin > > Joyce York > > Lisa Rider Shindlebower > > Audrey Johnson > > Cathy (CATEACHSC@aol.com) > > Nancy Acord-Greathouse > > Nan Mykel > > Ed W. (blb00991@mail.wvnet.edu) > > Tom Dillion > > Sam Cook > > Doris Slaughter > > Brock Robertson > > Mercedes Murphy > > Rickie Bennett Longfellow > > Sonny Griffith > > Otis Scott > > Anita Rose Schmidt > > Libbie Griffin > > Marsha Moses > > Colleen Simmons > > Joann Giddinge > > Nancy Frederick > > Gracie Stover > > Anita (Awpaxwv@aol.com) > > W. Darrell Miller > > Sue Huffman > > Jean Abshire > > Marie Martin > > Carlisle Bowling > > Richard Wilstead > > Jackie Sink Mygatt > > Yvonne Booz > > Gary Griffith > > Nyla Creed > > Patte Wood > > > > The final list of families that migrated from Franklin County > contains some > > 80 surnames. The alphabetical listing is as follows: > > > > Abshire > > Adams > > Adkins > > Angel/Angle > > Bailey > > Bates > > Beckelhimer > > Belcher > > Bell > > Blankenship > > Bowles > > Bradshaw > > Brogan > > Brown > > Campbell > > Clark > > Clay > > Cockran > > Cook > > Cooper > > Cox > > Craddock > > Darby > > Dearien > > Dent > > Dickerson > > Dillon > > Feazell > > Ferguson > > Gadd > > Goode > > Gray > > Griffith > > Hale > > Hatcher > > Huff > > Hurt > > James > > Keys > > Kidd > > Kingrey > > Lamb > > Leffew > > Lilly > > Maxey > > Maynor > > McCormack/McCormick > > McVey > > Meador/Meadows > > Newberry > > Perdue > > Peters (2 lines) > > Phillips > > Proffit > > Radford > > Rausch/Rouse > > Richards > > Robinson/Robertson > > Saunders > > Scott > > Shrewsbury > > Sigmon > > Sink > > Smith > > Snead > > Spangler > > Stanley > > Stephens/Stevens > > Stover > > Sweeney > > Tench > > Thomas > > Trail > > Underwood > > Via > > Wade > > Warden > > Wingo > > Worley > > Young > > > > This summary, list of contributors & list of migrating families can > also be > > found at the following URL: > > > > http://www.geocities.com/ncreed1/Migration.html > > > > Thanks for listening and as my Grandma Coleman used to say, "Ya'll > come!" > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Mike Peters > > npeters102@aol.com > > > > > > > > ==== VAFRANKL Mailing List ==== > > Messages from this mailing list are "warranted" to be virus free ... > > BUT some virus might masquerade as a mailing list message ... > > ALWAYS be careful with unexpected attachments to email messages. > > > ==== VAFRANKL Mailing List ==== > This list's archives may be searched by going to URL: > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?listname=VAFRANKL > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry's Library - The best collection of family history > learning and how-to articles on the Internet. > http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library > >