Family Migrations I

Have you ever traced your family migration from the "old country" to your home town or their place of retirement?

I'm going to trace the various families for a few posts beginning with my Mom's McHugh, Crail, Wagner and Laubscher families.

McHugh: John McHugh was born in County Donegal, Ireland in 1807. John apparently left Ireland with his brother Daniel, Daniel's wife and two children during the early 1830s for the coal mines of Schuylkill Co., Pennsylvania. John married in the Keystone State and then both families moved to Jo Daviess Co., Illinois by about 1845, where James McHugh was born. They were in Gratiot, Lafayette Co., Wisconsin by 1850 and later moved to nearby Shullsburg. After James died in 1898, wife Louisa and the six surviving children moved to Chicago, Illinois. My grandfather, Charles J. McHugh married in Chicago and his eldest son was born there. The family then moved to Indianapolis in 1912. My mother spent her final years [1977-2000] in Bonita Springs, Lee Co., Florida. Other members of the McHugh clan scattered across the country: Texas, California, Georgia, Iowa and other states. The basic move for my line of the family was not the typical westward move. It was more west, northwest, southeast. Ireland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Florida

Crail: The family's place of origin is a bit of a mystery, but they probably hailed from Scotland. The Crails appeared to have then gone to Maryland, Pennsylvania and later Kentucky. Hamilton Co., Ohio was the first confirmed home for the family. James B. Crail was a hard trace. His three sons were born in Ohio and the family was in Shelby Co., Indiana in 1851 and 1854. The boys and their families were in Marion Co. and Hamilton Co., Indiana in 1860-1870. [James and wife Mary did not show up in the 1850-1870 censuses.] Youngest son Aaron died in 1868. His widow and children moved to Miami Co. , Indiana by 1880. Aaron's son James was a blacksmith and resided in Miami, Marion and Howard Co.'s, Indiana before packing his family off to Ontario, Canada and veterinary medical school in 1894. Returning to the States, the Crails settled in Shelbyville, Shelby Co., Indiana. Chicago was the next stop and finally Indianapolis. James' mother spent most of her final years in Indianapolis. Once again, this was not the typical westward migration. Scotland, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Canada, Indiana, Illinois, Indiana

Wagner & Laubscher: I have combined these two German families together. John Wagner and Catherine Laubscher were both born in Baden. They met and married in Pennsylvania and then moved to the mining country around Fredericktown, Madison Co., Missouri, where daughter Louisa was born in 1849. Catherine's brother George also moved to Missouri. George and John were involved in land transactions in Lafayette Co., Wisconsin in 1850-51. Catherine was a widow with three children by 1855. Louisa married James McHugh in 1874 and died in Chicago in 1906. Her Uncle George returned to Missouri and served in the Union Artillery , later returning to Pennsylvania. Baden [Germany], Pennsylvania, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois