If you have “lost” your ancestor at a certain point in time, put yourself in their shoes and see if it generates any ideas or leads. Think about:
- their age when you’ve “lost” them.
- what “stage” were they at in their life-newly married, lots of children, “empty nester,” etc.?
- what economic advantages did they have?
- what economic limitations did they have?
- who were they responsible for?
- how “easy” was it to just “pick up and move?”
- could “family problems” have impacted their decisions?
- did they move or associate with members of their extended family–either relatives by blood or marriage?
And so on. No one operates in a vacuum.
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What a wonderful list to ponder, I had several female ancestors that picked up and moved west out of 1700 people I've reserched the only one to make a land claim and do the improvements and was granted the claim was a lady.
Excellent ideas! Saving to Evernote as a reference.