BARRY EWELL <bj57barry(a)msn.com>
Thank you for contacting WIGenWeb - Sorry for the delay in responding, as I am
out-of-state on business and this is the first time I have had a chance to check my
genealogy emails.
I did a quick check to find out who you were, as you didn't include that info - only
you were writing an article, This is what was found -
I believe this would be you ???
Riverton resident Barry Ewell works in marketing for IBM. Ewell, 49, said he's been
actively interested in family history and genealogy since the day his mother died, Aug. 3,
1997.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/187958/
Searching YOUELL surname -
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/message/an/surnames.youell/102
I am passing this email on to the Wisconsin County Coordinators, as they are the ones with
the histories of their counties - I am hoping they will be able to supply you with the
specifics of what you are seeking. I would ask the County Coordinators to also CC the
list - so all of us who are interested can read up on the information you are providing -
thanks in advance.
+++++
Off the top of my head, here are my thoughts, as my notes are in California and I am in
Texas -
There are many books which would be helpful - One book which might be helpful is lovingly
called The Cow Book - it has information on when each of the counties were formed. There
is another book used in the UW-Oshkosh system - The History of Wisconsin - by R. Nesbitt
- it has a good deal about the development of Wisconsin as far as migration patterns.
Wisconsin Historical Society would be a great source also.
Large portions of the state were populated by German and Polish immigrants, coming to
America seeking a better way of life - Many French came to Wisconsin through Canada for
religious freedom. Other nationalities came for varying reasons. This differs county by
county -
Some came from other parts of America, seeking employment. In Wood and Portage Counties,
the papermill industry was booming - jobs were plentiful - In the Monroe and LaFayette
County area, farming and some mining opportunities were the sources of employment.
Land Grants played a major role for would-be farmers -
Transportation was also a key factor - There were many people who came to Wisconsin,
settled for a short period of time, and then left by way of rivers, railways, and cover
wagons (Oregon Trail)... on their way westward.
here is a great article which illustrates the impact upon Wisconsin Railroads and
migration patterns
http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Wisconsin_s_legal_history&a...
Riverboats, up and down the Mississippi River, also impacted migration patterns.
+++++
Here are some on-line references
http://www.pbalkcom.com/Cassin%20Pages/Wisconsin.htm
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term...
The period of southern migration to Wisconsin was short, lasting from the late 1820s to
1840. Settlers from the southern states of Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Virginia, and North Carolina were the first white Americans after fur traders and military
men to arrive in Wisconsin. By 1840, southerners numbered around 5,400, 56 percent of
which lived in the lead region. The lead region had a distinctly southern atmosphere for
several years--some settlers even brought their slaves. When the lead industry began to
decline in the mid-1840s, southern migration slowed. [Source: Wisconsin's Cultural
Resources Study Units, Wisconsin Historical Society]
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term...
Father Jacques Marquette (q.v.) commented on the mineral deposits of the lower Wisconsin
in the summer of 1673, and the Ho-Chunk, Mesquakie (Fox), Sauk, and other tribes were
already mining lead there when French fur trader Nicolas Perrot began trading with them in
the 1680s. For the next century, the Indians guarded the mines' locations carefully,
revealing them only to a few favored traders such as Pierre Le Sueur (q.v.) and Julian
Dubuque (q.v.). Between 1804 and 1832, all the land south of the Wisconsin River came into
the hands of the U.S. government. This coincided with a strong demand for lead, which was
widely used in the manufacture of pewter, pipes, weights, paint, and ammunition for the
firearms of an expanding U.S. military. The U.S. began to lease lead mining rights in
Wisconsin in 1822, and miners flooded into southwestern Wisconsin in the 1820s and 1830s,
many from Missouri which had experienced a similar lead boom a few years earlier. By 1829,
more than 4,000!
miners working in southwestern Wisconsin produced 13 million pounds of lead a year. In
the 1830s, experienced miners began arriving from Cornwall, in southwestern England.
Wisconsin lead mining peaked in the 1840s, when the state's mines yielded more than
half the national lead output. [Source: Turning Points in Wisconsin History]
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term...
In the 15 years between 1836 and 1850, Wisconsin’s population increased from 11,000 to
more than 305,000, one-third of them foreign-born. Of these, only 48,000 spoke English;
nearly one-half of these English speakers were Irish. Of the non–English speaking
immigrants, Germans were by far the most numerous and Norwegians constituted the second
largest group, followed closely by Canadians of primarily French descent.
By 1870, the census showed that just over a million people had come into Wisconsin from
Europe, Canada or eastern states of the U.S. They were virtually all white (less than
one-tenth of 1% were African American) and men outnumbered women by a slight margin, 52%
to 48%. More than a third of 1870 residents had been born overseas: 16% in Germany, 8% in
the British Isles, 5% in Scandinavia, and the rest elsewhere in Europe or Canada.
[Source: Turning Points in Wisconsin History]
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term...
At the start of the 20th century, the state's rapidly industrializing economy brought
a new wave of immigrants as Poles, Russians, Czechs, and Italians came to live in
Wisconsin. This wave soon subsided, however, and growing nativist sentiment was
intensified by two World Wars and the Great Depression. During World War Two, farm workers
from Jamaica, the Bahamas, British Honduras, and Mexico arrived in substantial numbers,
and after the war Holocaust survivors and Jews fleeing discrimination in Soviet block
countries increased Wisconsin's Jewish population. After 1975, Hmong and Vietnamese
immigrants came to the state in large numbers, and after the collapse of communism in
1989, a new wave of Poles, Russians and other Eastern Europeans took up residence in
Wisconsin. [Source: Turning Points in Wisconsin History]
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term...
Potters' Emigration Society (Historic Marker Erected 1961) Hwy. CM, 5 mi. NE of
Portage Near here in 1849 Thomas. Twiggs began a settlement of unemployed potters from
Stafford, England. To help farmers on both sides of the Fox River reach his store and
blacksmith shop at Twiggs' Landing, he operated Emancipation Ferry, named to express
his hope that here they would find freedom from the poverty of the Old World. [Source:
McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term...
Great Migration = colloquial term generally used to designate the migration of African
Americans from southern states to northern cities following World War One; large-scale
migration of black citizens to Wisconsin, however, only occurred after World War Two when
the state's African-American population increased by nearly 600 percent, from 12,158
in 1940 to 74,546 in 1960. [Source: U.S. Census; Turning Points in Wisconsin History]
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term...
Wisconsin Emigrant Agency = a state agency created in the mid-19th century to facilitate
immigration to Wisconsin from the eastern U.S. and Europe; it published pamphlets and maps
in many languages, as well as other promotional literature.
Description from John W. Hunt's 1853 Wisconsin Gazetteer: "WISCONSIN EMIGRANT
AGENCY. For the purpose of promoting emigration to the State, an Emigration Agency has
been established, the officers of which are paid by the State, and are interested only to
point out the various industrial resources of Wisconsin, its adaption to mercantile and
mechanical pursuits -- the best location where either wild, government, or improved lands
can be procured -- and such other general and useful information as is needed by the
emigrant. The office of the Agency is at 89, GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK. The following
named gentlemen are connected with this Agency, either of whom will give, free of cost or
charge, impartial and reliable information, both verbal and documentary, to all wishing to
inquire in regard to the State: HERMIAN HAERTEL, Commissioner. JOHN H. BYRNE, Assistant
Commissioner. THOMAS J. TOWNSEND, Travelling Agent." [Source: Hunt, John W.
Wisconsin Gazetteer (Madison, 1853)]
+++++
Yes, I would love if you could send us a copy of your article - can we get your permission
to publish it on our USGenWeb WIGenWeb site? It would be nice to see the information on
migration to Wisconsin
Hope this helps. Again, thank you for contacting us - R/S MAK
MAKtranscriber
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiwood
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiportag
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wimonroe
----- Original Message ----
From: BARRY EWELL <bj57barry(a)msn.com>
To: tsvickery(a)adelphia.net; maktranscriber(a)yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 1, 2006 4:37:30 AM
Subject: Wisconsin: Immigration of our ancestors?
Wisconsin: Immigration of our ancestors?
My name is Barry Ewell. I am developing an article and presentation on what motivated
our ancestors to immigrate or move from one state to another during the 1700, 1800 and
early 1900’s. I realize this top could go many directions and take many book volumes.
The article and presentation is primarily targeted at genealogists. The information is
designed to help them understand clues and hits for researching family that come from the
choice of relocation our ancestors made.
I seek to give genealogist sound reasons to consider but at the same time give them
directions to consider when reviewing their ancestors who lived in Wisconsin.
Can you direct me to any articles, web pages, that can help me review this topic (from the
genealogist) perspective of Wisconsin?
Regards,
Barry
LAST QUESTION: Would you like a copy of the article when I am done?