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Surnames: Sanford, Pentecost
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Ii.2ADI/817.1
Message Board Post:
I am descended from the Nantucket Sanfords that made
their way to Union County, IN as well. My great great
grandfather, Joseph Pentecost married Lucretia
Sanford. Joseph's brother, William, married Lucretia's
sister, Anne L. Sanford. I just recently discoverd
this Nantucket connection and asked the same question
myself. From what little I have read on Nantucket
history, it appears that Nantucket was one of the
great whaling ports from the 1700s to the late 1830s
and the economy was heavily dependent on the whaling
industry. By the 1830s, however, the whaling industry
was in decline and the country's dependency on whale
oil for fuel and lighting gave way to the discovery of
productive oil wells in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. In
1846, there was also a "Great Fire" in Nantucket that
destroyed most of the port area. In 1849 gold was
discovered in California and a very large portion of
Nantucket's male population headed for California in
search of riches. Given all this, it appears that a
principle basis for the migration from Nantucket to
the west, as with many other migrations, was for
economic reasons. Cheap land and a chance for a better
life were quite an incentive. Again, I am no Nantucket
historian, but that's my take on it.
I would be interested in sharing info with you and
others that may be descended from the
Nantucket Sanfords that came to Indiana.
Michael Pentecost