Without going into the details there were one basic motivation for =
people to leave New England for New York and the west=8B=8BLAND. If you =
trace the development of New England towns, any town will do, during =
the 18th century, you will a population explosion. Note their =
occupations and you will find they were farmers mostly, with a =
sprinkling of blacksmiths, wheelwrights, harness makers, tanners, =
carpenters, and stonemasons and the like, usually a trade they plied =
after their daily farm chores. Read the inventories of a few households =
after the death of the father/husband, and you will find looms, =
spinning wheels, farm tools, and maybe some trade tools. In short most =
families lived on a farm, growing their own food, making their own =
fabrics and clothings, and bartering with others for what they couldn't =
make themselves. It was a tough life, especially when you consider the =
sparse rocky soil found throughout most of New England. Then when each =
marriage usually produced six to twelve children, it becomes clear that =
there simply wasn't enough arable land available to support the =
population, so off they went west in search of land on which to live.
To further the migration after the Revolution, New York State gave =
land bounties in the unsettled areas in the Catskills, along the =
Southern Tier, and in most other areas of central and western New York, =
basically giving the land away to anyone who would live on it and use =
it. And in some areas, like the area around Buffalo, commercial land =
companies like the Holland Land Company took title to the land and =
promoted it commercially in a variety of special deals to attract new =
settlers, often giving away much of the land in exchange of the =
commitment to settle, so they could profit by selling the rest of the =
land later on.
The motivations were powerful but much the same onew that drive us =
today to want to own our own little patch of earth, although today =
nothing is free for the taking.
New England and eastern New York is beautiful country but the only =
things that can be grown on most of it commercially are trees and =
homes. Winters are too long for livestock. The soil is too poor, and =
about as rocky as it gets, for growing cash crops of any kind. It's a =
wonder anyone stayed. In fact in the nineteenth century, the population =
of many old New England towns actully shrank as families emigrated to =
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and other mid-western states looking for =
farm land they couldn't find in New England. My wife's own ancestors =
remained in New England, but three quarters of her gg grandparents' =
siblings in the 1840's and '50's went west to live. And even today =
unless one can telecommute, commute to a big city like Boston, =
Hartford, or the area around NYC, or can find a well-paying position in =
one of the smaller cities like Portland, Portsmouth, Bennington, and =
the like, New England is economically a tough place in which to =
survive. In fact many people who live in the rural New England today =
are quite poor, much like they were in the 19th century, but remain =
proud of their heritage and homes. The beauty of the place is deceiving.
That's a capsule summary that I hope puts the migration into =
perspective.
Best regards
Kelvin Kean
P. S. I know nothing about the Hitchcocks, Johnsons, or any of the =
other people you mentioned in your note, so I can't help you there.