Migration research is a topic that I do not have a strong background in so I am grateful to have access to a presentation like this. Plus… it’s Josh, and he’s amazing!
To view the presentation: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/tracing-migrations-from-new-york-1780-to-1880
Here are some of my notes, thoughts, and takeaways from this session:
- Migration was often a planned process that included motivation (looking for jobs, religious freedom, etc.).
- Look for selling land before they moved.
- Migration often included many different forms of transport as one path usually didn’t take a person straight from point A to point B.
- Check newspapers for advertisements.
- It would be interesting to look up Erie Canal advertisements.
- Erie Canal was pivotal in NYS History.
- Check newspapers for advertisements.
- Index of Roads, Trails, Paths and Migration Routes website.
- You can select different trails and paths on this site.
- American Migration Facts website.
- French’s Gazetteer (1860) includes detailed descriptions of towns and counties.
- I’m not sure if I have come across this resource before. I wonder what information it has on the Western New York Counties. This would be a good resource to add to my WNY Locality Guides!
- NYG&B Labs – Mapping the Record.
- I have seen this before. I should check for Niagara County and see what articles come back in the search returns.
- NY Heritage includes Oral Histories.
I checked French’s Gazetteer (1860) and did find breakdowns of the Counties along with municipalities within them.
- Allegany – p. 168
- Cattaraugus – p. 186
- Chautauqua – p. 208
- Erie – p. 279
- Genesee – p. 320
- Niagara – p. 449
- Orleans – p. 512
- Wyoming – p. 710