Some significant migration patterns into and out of Virginia can carry booby-traps for the unwary genealogist:
In early Virginia, Quakers settled in the tidewater area and along the Eastern shore. By the end of the seventeenth century, the welcoming political climate that brought them into Virginia in the first place changed. Quakers were literally forced to migrate into Maryland, Delaware, and up into New Jersey.
From here the migrants later moved into the regular flow westward. Some took the Great Wagon Road across Pennsylvania, down the Great Valley of Virginia and into Western North Carolina where they intermingled with related Quaker families from Maryland. Surnames will often be the same.
Some migrated into western Ohio where Quakers from South Carolina had already located. These Quaker, themselves, came into South Carolina originally from Maryland–and could be directly related to the groups who sought refuge from the wrath of Virginia .
These circular, rather than linear migration patterns, are more common than you might expect–given the how-to- books written for beginners in Virginia genealogy. And they exist in other areas as well. Be alerted.
Your favorite Virginia genealogist, Arlene Eakle
PS Stay tuned for more Virginia migration patterns you might not have recognized or searched before.