Life is getting crowded in the original colonies - even the frontiers in western Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, & the Carolinas are filling up.
They can't go far in the south as the Cherokee and other Indian Nations still own much of Georgia
They can't go into the Great Lakes because of the disputes by the French, English & Canadians as well as the powerful Iroquois Confederation
People keep moving towards western NY knowing that eventually they will be able to move into this area
Aside from the need for land another major force will push them towards the frontier: The Great Awakening
Congregationalism ruled in New England; Groups like Baptists were looking for a new place
Anglicans were the state religion in Virginia; everyone else was considered a "nonconformist" but still had to tithe to the Anglican Church
Quakers were on the move. The wars had been difficult for them and they were also giving up on the American South because of slavery
Everyone's eyes are on the next frontiers of Ohio, Kentucky & Tennessee
Remaining State Land States: the original colonies/states had control of their lands which they could sell/grant as they wished. After independence the push westward left three more state land states:
Kentucky - a part of Virginia until statehood in 1792
first settlers in about 1776 - at that point it was Kentucky County, Virginia
by 1792 when Kentucky is made a state these counties existed
2 routes in:
from the north: down the Ohio River to Maysville / Limestone or Louisville / Falls of the Ohio
from the south: the Cumberland Gap / Wilderness Road (map of Wilderness Road in Virginia)
If your family came in early through the Cumberland Gap the chances are good that they spent some time in SW Virginia and if they were there early make sure you understand the county formations because they kept changing:
If your family came into Kentucky 1776-1792 you want to check also check the VA Land Office Grants a as their land would have been granted by Virginia. If they came soon after when warrants were still being issued use the Warrants search at Kentucky.gov
if they were Revolutionary War Soldiers check the Revolutionary War Warrants series and the West of Tennessee River Military Series
Ancestry.com has the Kentucky Land Grants database that is comprehensive 1782-1924 but it is only an index
Kentucky kept wonderful tax lists but they have not been digitized so far; Ancestry has a published version for 1799-1801which is essential because the earliest census was lost
Tennessee - a part of North Carolina until statehood in 1795
first settlers about 1776 to what was then known as Washington Co. North Carolina
1784 they revolted an proclaimed themselves to be the State of Franklin - this period ended in 1789
This means if you think your family was here prior to 1795 you should check the North Carolina Land Grants
Ancestry some essential collections for catching people migrating to or from Tennessee:
North Carolina & Tennessee Revolutionary Land Warrants, 1783-1843
North Carolina & Tennessee, Early Land Records 1753-1931
Texas
the Texas General Land Office was created immediately after the Texas Revolution in 1836 and for various reasons came into the Union owning all its lands including its tidelands.
Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search
They also have a surname index where you can browse and catch strange spellings
The Federal Land States
best tools to track and understand settlement and movement in Public Domain states:
U.S. FEDERAL & STATE CENSUS - FamilySearch has a large collection of state & territorial census
COUNTY HISTORIES -
PLAT MAPS - get the township from their patent or from their census entries
Historic Map Works - Plat Maps -
BLM GLO - patent search
tax lists - not many of them are online yet but they not only tell you when someone arrived but sometimes tell more about the land they were on