Family Migration Routes

Awhile back I did timelines for most of my families. Today's post is going to cover general migration routes the family groups took to get to Indiana. Some were a round about. Others were relative direct.


1. Plymouth Colony > New York > Ohio > Indiana
2. Massachusetts Bay > New York > Pennsylvania > Virginia [now West Virginia] > Ohio >
    Kentucky > Indiana
3. Massachusetts Bay > Rhode Island > Maryland > Pennsylvania > Ohio > Indiana
4. New Netherland/New York > New Jersey > Pennsylvania > Maryland > Pennsylvania > Ohio >
    Indiana
5. New York > Pennsylvania > Virginia [now West Virginia] > Ohio >  Kentucky > Indiana
6. Massachusetts > New York > New Jersey > Ohio > Indiana
7. Pennsylvania > Maryland > Virginia > Ohio > Indiana
8. Maryland > North Carolina > Kentucky > Indiana
9. Virginia > Kentucky > Indiana
10. Maryland > Kentucky > Indiana
11. (West)Virginia > (Ohio?) > Pennsylvania > Ohio > Indiana
12. Pennsylvania > Ohio > Indiana (> Kansas)
13. Plymouth Colony > Connecticut > New York > Ohio > Indiana
14. Pennsylvania > Missouri > Wisconsin > Illinois > Indiana
15. Pennsylvania > Illinois > Wisconsin > Illinois > Indiana


There are supposed to be three basic migrations into Indiana: (1) New England to Northern Indiana; (2) Mid-Atlantic States through Pennsylvania and Ohio to Central Indiana; (3) The Upland South through Kentucky or Ohio into Indiana.


For the most part, my Southern families followed the pattern. [see #8 and 9] The Mid-Atlantic pioneers [NY, PA, MD, NJ] didn't do a bad job sticking to the script. [see #4, 5, 7, 12] Those New Englanders! Not one of my NE families followed that "due west" route. Most of them eventually landed in New York and followed the Mid-Atlantic route. Quite a few ended up going down the Ohio River to Cincinnati, settled in Ohio, then on to Indiana.


What motivated all of these people to move west? Primarily land. Kentucky opened up for settlement, then Ohio, then Indiana. A few people joined family members already in the state. Others found jobs available.