Most of what I've read about migration into Wayne County echoes Sandra's
message, particularly the Quakers from North Carolina. However, I have some
variations on these migrations that suggest other factors were at work.
I have JEFFERIS ancestors who arrived about 1821. They were Quakers, but
came from Chester County, Penn., rather than N.C. About the same time, my
STIDHAM ancestors came west from New Castle County, Del., where the family
had been since the first Swedish ancestor settled in the 1650s. They were
not Quakers.
My third line, KERLIN, migrated to Wayne County in the early 1830s from
Washington County, Tenn. There is some evidence to suggest they may have
been a generation or two removed from being Quakers, but they were not in
the generations that came to Indiana (later a Kerlin did marry a Jefferis
Quaker).
Certainly the slavery issue was an issue with Quakers and some other
religions (I have some Baptist ancestors who left Virginia for Ohio for
that reason about 1802), but I also believe it was the opening of new farm
lands. In those days they didn't know much about rotating crops to maintain
the quality of the soil, which meant crop lands tended to deteriorate over
a couple of generations.
--
Karl Seitz
Hi all,
I live in Perry township, Wayne County, Indiana. From what I have read,
allot of the settlers in our township at least, were of the Quaker faith.
Most of them moving from the southern states due to their beliefs on
slavery. The main roads lead to Cincinnati, Ohio where they crossed the
river and headed through the wilderness to the newly opened up lands past
Ohio. Wayne County had plenty of water, wild animals, and even a few
indians. Most seemed to have liked the beauty of the area and the fact
that it was unsettled new territory. In the research that I have done,
most that came from N.C. were of the Quaker faith and their records are
fantastic! Hope this helps!
Sandra Boyce
http://www.infocom.com/~sboyce/economy.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: stephany gonser [SMTP:stephany@putsimply.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 1998 6:05 PM
To: WAYNE_IN-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: Wayne Co Info
My ancestors also went from NC (Rowan co) to IN (Wayne co) - but in the
early 1800's (1804 to 1851). They were the NOLANDS and ADAMS. Abraham
ADAMS and his son-in-law, Stephen NOLAND founded Adams Township in
Madison Co, IN. Any clues as to the impetus for the move would be
helpful - they were successful tobacco farmers in NC.
Thank you, Stephany