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.