Travel The World

As I continue researching my genealogy, I am picking up on migration patterns into Appalachia that I was not aware of before.  In the past, I assumed the majority of migration into that area came from the Scotch-Irish who were seeking cheap land that was no longer available on the coast.  However, I now see it somewhat differently.  More likely than not, your average migrant went west because he was NOT the first son of a planter family in eastern Virginia and needed to strike out on his own to make his fortune.  You see, "primogeniture" was, by law or custom, still in effect in the colonies and required most of the inheritance to go to the eldest son.  An example of this in my lineage is the case of Moses Ball (1717-1792).  Even though he had several sons, he followed the custom and left most of his estate to the eldest one.  His other sons were left to fend for themselves and most coped with this by moving a little farther west in the Virginia c...

Wow!  There were a lot of surprises from my genealogical research over the past month.  As mentioned in a previous post, my DNA results indicate more of a 'Continental Europe' influence than a 'British Isles' one.  This was initially confusing since every surname I've ever been aware of was British in nature.  The problem was that I hadn't yet gone back far enough in my research.  I have now researched six generations and found the following surnames in my ancestry: Father's Branch German Krummholz (Anglicized to Crum) Honaker Schmidt (Smith) Scherp Ries (Reese) Hermann (Harmon) Seiburren Laitmer Englert Haan Rodenbucher French Auxier (actually, Alsatian so could also be considered German) Depuy Dutch Hornbeck Roosa Wynkoop Pels Van Vliet (Van Fleet) DeHooges Mother's Branch German Schrader Nin Bader (Borders) Balterspergerin Kuppler French Poteet Tonnelier (Tunnell) Regnault Martiau Brass...