Kym, There is another reason for westward migration: Room to live and farm. Many families were so large that, after a few generations, there simply was not enough room for all of the new families to find adequate farmland. That problem was solved by moving west where there was plenty of opportunity to find enough land to support the family. Norman ----- Original Message ----- From: "David & Kym Pitman" <dpitman@fuse.net> To: <VASHENAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 11:26 AM Subject: RE: [VASHENAN] Shenandoah to Licking Co OH & Cass Co IN > Tom, > > Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for describing what conditions were like > prior to the westward movement for those of us who have never seen the area > except in pictures. I had often wondered what motivated my ancestors to > move from the Shenandoah to Athens Co., OH. The portrait you paint gives > clues for further research. > > Kym

<<There is another reason for westward migration: Room to live and farm. Many families were so large that, after a few generations, there simply was not enough room for all of the new families to find adequate farmland.>> Precisely. I believe that was the number one reason for migration - the family farm not being big enough to accommodate all the adult children in an agricultural society. For example, my Roush family had 10 sons. If they had all remained in Shenandoah, they would have been largely limited to occupations as day laborers and field hands - work done by slaves in Virginia. Growing industry was able to provide jobs later on, but not in the period around 1800. TC

Norman, Thanks for the suggestion. It is a valid one. I had considered that reason as well, but I have been unable to place my ancestor in any family and so I have no idea how many siblings he had. I do believe he moved to Ohio with a near relative, either a brother or a cousin, but that is all I have to go on. At the ripe old age of 53 the brother (or cousin) enlisted to fight for the north in the war [lied about his age] and his wartime obit gave an eloquent speech about preserving the Union. His papers from NARA gave no new useful information. The fact that these two young men could have been against slavery back in 1835 could account for the decision to leave VA. Trying to tear down that brick wall and will take any hammer in hand to do it, no matter how small! -----Original Message----- From: Norman Runyon [mailto:norman@runyon.com] Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 1:37 PM To: VASHENAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [VASHENAN] Shenandoah to Licking Co OH & Cass Co IN Kym, There is another reason for westward migration: Room to live and farm. Many families were so large that, after a few generations, there simply was not enough room for all of the new families to find adequate farmland. That problem was solved by moving west where there was plenty of opportunity to find enough land to support the family. Norman ----- Original Message ----- From: "David & Kym Pitman" <dpitman@fuse.net> To: <VASHENAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 11:26 AM Subject: RE: [VASHENAN] Shenandoah to Licking Co OH & Cass Co IN > Tom, > > Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for describing what conditions were like > prior to the westward movement for those of us who have never seen the area > except in pictures. I had often wondered what motivated my ancestors to > move from the Shenandoah to Athens Co., OH. The portrait you paint gives > clues for further research. > > Kym ==== VASHENAN Mailing List ==== Shenandoah Co VAGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~vashenan/vashenan.html