[northwest_al] Fw: Reasons to move.
- From: "Mike Sullivan" <sulliv812@xxxxxxx>
- To: "northwest_al" <northwest_al@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 02:08:50 -0500
Please forgive the extra header. I had a bad link and did not wish to retype my
post. I hope not to ever do this again. thanks!
----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Sullivan
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2003 5:33 PM
To: Nwalfreelist
Subject: Reasons to move.
Hi!
A few of you folks may remember me from the NW-ALABAMA list and know that I
have a soft spot for newbies. I also declared to be barely past the newbie
stage myself. I have been reluctant to post on this list because I wanted to
see where it might go, in as far as topic. Sue has started this list for us, so
that we would not be bound by topic subjects. It would be nice for us to try
and keep our surnames to people that moved to and from the NW AL area.
I also have held back from posting for fear of coming across as a
know-it-all, or preaching. My reasons for posting are first to give a little
help to any newbies that might read them. We should encourage those folks. If
you are stuck at a brick wall, it is highly possible that a newbie might see
something that you missed.
Also, a newbie might have a different look at things. Everyone has different
ways of thinking and if you have gone around that same old bush more than a few
times, I believe it would be wise to listen up to those new ideas. Should you
know that person is barking up the wrong tree, have a laugh and respectfully
tell them where they are wrong.
That is the second reason why I have made some postings. I am aware there are
some seasoned researchers on this list. (or the other list) I have been hopeful
someone would be able to correct me or steer me in the right direction if my
sky was a different color of blue than it should be. Learning research
techniques, unless academically trained is a hit and miss affair until not only
you get your feet wet but get to the point of sink or swim.
I will only mention analysis techniques to say that I have just begun to
approach that area of genealogy and if you don't believe that the deeper you
get in your studies the more regimental things become, just wait until you get
to the analysis stage. I have heard that getting old is not for sissies. Well
neither is advanced genealogy. As I have said before, genealogy is what YOU
make of it and if that guy on TV is happy that he found out he was related to
the Wright brothers on some website, let's cheer in HIS success.
I would love to see more traffic on this list, so will start with a topic
that again might be helpful to someone or maybe someone can correct me. I'm
certain many can add to the topic of reasons for migrations and I beg you to
jump in. It is easy to see the need for western movements because as the
eastern coast became populated, the need for more land became greater. Why
would people need so much land?
Anyone familiar with modern day gardening, knows that a half acre for a
family of four would be considered a big garden. That's the key, modern day
home gardening practices. First, a family of four would be a rare thing in the
days of our ancestors. I will limit my discussion to home gardening because
there were of course planters of large plantations but most people didn't have
that luxury.
The need for land grants of 100 acres or more, stems from the soil itself.
There wasn't any 8-8-8 fertilizer to be found. Unless you had plenty of farm
animals, which took lots of land to raise crops to feed, you might have to buy
manure and other natural fertilizers, so you needed land to raise some sort of
cash crop. People would raise corn for both man and beast and you could take
your corn to a mill that would grind it for you, for a share of that corn. You
would need a cash crop to buy things like coffee, sugar, wheat flour, salt and
pepper.
I watched a program called Appalachian Stories a few years ago where an old
timer explained that the first year you cleared land, you would get a decent
crop. The next year would be even better but the third year, you will be lucky
to have a crop. It took lots of time to clear all of that land. A person would
farm maybe 10 acres while clearing another 10 acres for future crops.
As people cut down trees, they would pile up logs to sell to lumber mills.
Many of these mills would move around as timber was being harvested, so there
is another reason why some families would move. Eventually, the soil would
become torn out. Lands opening up in the west would provide a new beginning.
It's hard to think that people would get so very little for their land but most
would really sell their house for whatever they could get for it and the land
just came with the transaction.
I hope that others will pick up this topic, correct and/or add to my post.
Bye, Mike
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