American Migration Routes

INTRODUCTION

Finding your American ancestors can sometimes be difficult because they may have moved so frequently. You might begin your search by asking yourself why your ancestors migrated from one locality to another. Some possible reasons for migration may have included: opportunity to obtain land, crop failures, military bounty land, follow a religious leader, religious persecution, follow relatives or friends, economic reasons, change of climate, improve social and poverty conditions, political reasons, military transfer, wars, follow construction projects (such as canals and railroads), and other reasons.

Understanding migration trails in the localities where your ancestors resided may help to trace their migration to a previous place of residence. Travel in America was usually along existing trails and roads, such as the National Road that extended from Maryland to Illinois, or along rivers, lakes, and canals, such

as the Erie Canal, Hudson River, Ohio River, or Mississippi River.

Roads and river travel improved throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Boston Post Road was used by many people and extended from the New England states to New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and into the Southern states.

The westward migration that resulted in the rapid settlement of the continental United States is perhaps the most compelling and

important theme in American history. In no other place or time have individuals settled such an immense region so quickly and small groups of settlers who operated independent of, and at times in direct violation of, governmental policy. Usually considered the area where the settled portions of civilization meet the untamed wilderness, the frontier moved west over time with the migrations of American settlers. The improvement of existing Native-American trails as well as the development of new roads was of great importance in determining the relocation and redefinition of the frontier thus in many ways came to define the process of westward migration, both as a delineating marker between settlement and wilderness and as a gateway to the "West."

Tracing your own family’s paths of migration can prove crucial in identifying previous generations and eventually, figuring out where and how they arrived in the “New World” as well as where they eventually settled. Knowing the network of trails American pioneers traveled can help you guess where to start looking. The trail descriptions provided on these pages will assist you in understanding the routes your ancestors may have taken to find new homes and opportunities in the vast area now encompassed by the United States.

What we hope to accomplish with this resource is to provide the researcher with some of the basic facts of the major routes that were created and utilized during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The routes are generally grouped according to the area of the United States to which our migrating ancestors were heading. Of primary importance is information regarding where the trails began and ended, as well as other names by which they were also known.

INDEX OF ROADS, TRAILS AND PATHS

The following named routes are linked to the page which provides information about the frontier region of the United States in which they are primarily found. Many early American roads are known by several names. As such it may be confusing as to which route is being discussed. In an effort to clarify this problem we are listing all names as they are identified though our on-going research. Any additional information concerning this topic would be most welcome.

OUR ANCESTRAL MIGRATION ROUTES

The following pages in this website are dedicated to the persons in our databases that have been identified as having traveled these various historical American migratory routes during the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Bozarth, Peiffer, Quigley, Rhubart and allied families

The LINK below will take you to a page containing specific information about the migration dates, places, and routes of many direct ancestors named within this database.

MIGRATION ROUTES - Bozarth; Peiffer; Quigley; Rhubart; and allied families

Moreland, McVicker, Pinnell, Scruggs and allied families

The LINK below will take you to a page containing specific information about the migration dates, places, and routes of many direct ancestors named within this database.

AMERICAN MIGRATION ROUTES - Moreland; McVicker; Pinnell; Scruggs; and allied families

Dellinger, Knecht, Pfeffer, Silar and allied families

The LINK below will take you to a page containing specific information about the migration dates, places, and routes of many direct ancestors named within this database.

MIGRATION ROUTES - Dellinger; Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar; and allied families

RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES FOR

RESEARCHING U. S. MIGRATIONS

Migration Maps

A number of Internet sites contain maps showing migration routes in America. Ancestry.com maintains a “Map Center” which features several hundred historical maps of interest to genealogists and historians. See especially the heading “Migration.” www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/reference/maps/main.asp

“The American Migrations Web Site” attempts to have an online database of immigration and migration records. members.aol.com/gedsearch/migrate.htm

“Cyndi’s List: Migration Routes, Roads & Trails” identifies westward migration routes, trails, roads, mailing lists, newsgroups, maps, gazetteers, publications, and more. www.cyndislist.com/migration.htm

Migration Sources

Federal census schedules and state census records after 1850 are useful in tracing migration. The 1880 U.S. Census was the first to show the parent’s birthplace (state or country). Sometimes church records show where an individual or family migrated, or a notation may have been made in the church records in the new locality showing where they came from (previous place of residence). Land records sometimes will show a previous place of residence. Gravestones sometimes show where a person was born. Military records are very useful in tracing migration. Printed sources, such as biographies and compiled genealogies are useful as a beginning source. Computer databases, such as the International Genealogical Index, should be used as a first step in the research process (see “Search for Ancestors” at FamilySearch Internet). www.familysearch.org

The following list of sources may be useful in tracing migration of individuals and families in America (listed alphabetically, not in order of priority):

· Bible records and home sources

· Biographical works (sometimes known as “mug books”)

· Census schedules (federal, state, and local census records, especially after 1850)

· Church records

· Compiled genealogies and family histories

· Court records

· DAR genealogical collections (Bible records and other transcriptions)

· Divorce records

· Gravestone inscriptions and cemetery records

· Land and property records (land grants, patents, deeds, bounty lands, etc.)

· Local histories (town, county, regional, and other histories)

· Manuscript collection (may include unpublished compiled genealogies)

· Military service and pension records, unit histories, other military records

· Mortality schedules, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 (some records are incomplete)

· Naturalization and citizenship records (since 1790)

· Newspapers (obituaries, marriage notices, biographies, local news, etc.)

· Passport applications (since 1795)

· Passenger lists and immigration records (since 1820; many earlier records published and indexed by P. William Filby)

· Patriotic and lineage society records (DAR, SAR, Mayflower Society, etc.)

· Periodicals (genealogical and historical periodicals and newsletters)

· Probate records (wills, administrations, probate case files)

· Tax lists (Kentucky tax records are one of the best examples)

· Vital records (births, marriages, and death records)

· Voting registers

Selected Bibliography

Atlas of American History. 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1984.

Billington, Ray Allen and Martin Ridge. Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier. 5th ed. New York: Macmillan

Publishing, 1982.

Condon, George E. Stars in the Water: The Story of the Erie Canal. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1974.

Holbrook, Stewart H. The Yankee Exodus: An Account of Migration from New England. Seattle: University of Washington Press,

1968.

Merk, Frederick. History of the Westward Movement. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978.

Steckmesser, Kent L. The Westward Movement: A Short History. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969.

Unruh, John D., Jr. The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60. Urbana, Ill.: University

of Illinois Press, 1979.

Western Writers of America. Water Trails West. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1978.

Source: Ancestry.com - American Migration Sources

INFORMATION WEBSITES

We recommend that you use the following search engine and

external links to obtain additional knowledge about this topic.

Historic American

Roads, Trails , & Paths

Image Gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a variety of American migration routes, roads and trails. Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of this topic as well as our ancestors past lives.

Click on the thumbnail above to view this map in a larger format.

Source: http://www.familytreemagazine.com/articles/mar08/migration_map.pdf

If you have any photographs or other images relating to American migration

routes, roads, or trails would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Use the following LINK to view the various image galleries that pertain to this topic.