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Once upon a time the mountains of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia were filled with a group
of hardy pioneers. (1) Many of their ancestors arrived at various ports along the coast. (2) A few were already hunting in
the forests as the new arrivals came. (3) As additional settlers moved in, the pioneers moved westward, often taking the Great
Wagon Road down from Pennsylvania and Augusta County, Virginia to North Carolina, then traveling by the Wilderness Road into
southwest Virginia or going through the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky. (4)
(1) U.K. links to information on early Kentuckians
(2) Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild Site
(3) Cyndi's List Native American research sites
(4)The Wilderness Road route
Some of these pioneers were by nature kind, generous and helpful. They arranged for their most clever descendants to put
up wonderful, well-organized Web Pages detailing their every move. (5)
Others were devious, sneaky and full of mischief.
Having an active sense of humor, they made plans to lead their descendants on a merry chase. First, they adopted the use of
initials instead of names, making their descendants guess. (6) They they arranged to marry guys and girls with common names
such as Tom and William and Elizabeth and Mary. Next, they named everyone in the entire family (including the dog) by these
same names. (7) Some hid in tiny corners of the Cherokee rolls, a place the amateur genealogist might never think to research.
(8) Others cleverly vanished from their homes in Virginia and popped up behind a tree in North Carolina; and then when their
ancestors began researching in North Carolina, they ran back across the border to Virginia again. Better still, sometimes
they hid in Squabble State, a no-man's land claimed by both states and controlled by neither. (9) Finally, the most sneaky
of all were those ancestors who directed that their tombstones be carved in Jello, so that no trace would ever be found.
(5)Linda's E.Ky.-Tn. - 25,000 name database. (Very good for Pike Co.!)
(5)Another excellent Eastern Kentucky site
(6) The Hawkins from Gen Forum, home of folks like J.A., W.R., M.E. and G.T.
(7) Linda's site - again! Check the name duplications!
(8) Cherokee sources
(8) Cherokee by Blood Site
(9) Squabble State: the No-man's Land between Virginia and North Carolina (now Tenn.)
(10) a site devoted to hard-to-find ancestors
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