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When America was first settled land claims of the original colonies stretched much further than their later boundaries.
The reason this matters is that some trace of "parent county" remained in how they did things on that newer frontier and it also helps predict migration as new territories open up.
Regional Differences in Colonial America
REGION
New England
CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT
Middle Colonies
NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD - NJ & NY will always show similarities to New England / MD, DE to Virginia & South
American South
VA, NC, SC, GA – later TN, KY, MS,LA
ETHNICITY
English – anyone else is an outlier. They have come for their occupation or in a group with a unique story.
English, Scots Irish, German, Dutch, Swedes, Irish (in very small numbers) Swiss, Belgian
Connecticut also claimed NE PA which means there are more New Englanders in that part of the state.
Maryland brought in high numbers of British prisoners and indentured servants.
Coastal areas primarily English but from the mid 1700s folks from the Middle Colonies move onto the frontier and southward.
Already in the American South were many French and Spanish meaning culture was already different in Louisiana, Mississippi and earliest Missouri
SPEECH
Different English dialects depending on where they came from in England
All bets are off on how a name is said or spelled because of all the dialects. The Scots Irish influence allows many names to have a “y toggle” (McNeel/McNeely) no matter what nationality.
Many dialects but primarily the mix from the South of England, brogues of the Scots Irish and newly learned English of enslaved Africans give us the regional differences in Southern speech
VITAL
Vital records were kept in New England from the start as civil records. Most have survived.
Divorces were granted from the beginning and filed in court.
No marriages in NY or PA unless found in church records.
Deaths not usually recorded.
Birth only if they belonged to a denomination that did infant baptism or christening.
Divorce difficult but possible. Google early divorce laws and the colony or state as they differed and changed.
Earliest colonial marriages were kept haphazardly. Non-conformist marriages sometimes not returned. Custom was to marry in the bride’s county. Both ministers returns and bonds might be filed.
No marriages filed in SC
Divorce not possible; removal of bed and board can sometimes be found in county courts
RELIGION
Congregationalist. New denominations like Baptist begin getting a foothold a little before the American Revolution
Very diverse. Quakers, Anglican, Baptist, Mennonite, Brethren, Moravian, Presbyterian, Dutch Reformed, Lutheran and just before the American Revolution Methodism takes off.
VA had a state religion: Anglican though they had allowed the Quakers from the beginning. Anyone not Anglican was a non-conformist and they were still expected to pay tithes to the Anglican church. The “back country” that came down the valley brought all the other denominations with them.
LAND
Township & Range
Large land grants divided neatly and sold to colonists
Not many land disputes
Original grants were to proprietors. Deeds kept at both county level and town level and are filmed at FamilySearch if you use a locality search in the catalog.
Primarily Metes and Bounds (from Fox Creek to the Beech Tree by Ben Hardin’s line)
Original grants were made to individuals and then dispersed to settlers.
Normal order:
warrant when you asked for it
survey when your marked it
patent when you paid for it
Deeds available at FamilySearch if you use a locality search in the catalog.
Metes & Bounds
Large land grants by the crown but also the Headright system which allowed a colonist 50 acres for every person they brought into the colony. This meant very large plantations grew quickly and a huge divide between rich and poor. It also cemented slavery to the land system.
Deeds available at FamilySearch if you use a locality search in the catalog.
Map showing states where land was dispersed by the state or colony in white. The rest were granted through the federal government
here are links to digitized Federal and State land warrants, patents, surveys etc.
The first waves of migration west from the original colonies
New England to New York and the Great Lakes. Some to NE Pennsylvania because Connecticut claimed that area.
Middle Colonies could choose anywhere - most common
They went south down the Valley of Virginia
West to the Ohio River and the National Road through Southern Ohio on to Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa
American South - Did not often go further north than Ohio. They moved on as land opened in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and west into Kentucky and Tennessee.
This means you should first be suspicious if online trees have Grandma born in Massachusetts and marrying in Virginia. You need real proof that shows her extended family making this unusual path because it runs against the odds.
Most common reasons for early migration outliers:
Layover paths - Hezekiah will not leave Massachusetts for North Carolina but he might leave it for NJ.
Once he has lived in NJ for a while people there are going onto the Pennsylvania frontier.
Once he's on the Pennsylvania frontier he goes with friends and family to Virginia and then down the valley to NC.
Layover paths take time in early America. They creep towards the next destination and end up somewhere unexpected.
Religious migrations
Soldiers (they settled in places they had been sent to)
Business (not as common and more likely on seaport settlements)
As time goes on and more roads, canals and railways are built people make a few more unusual migration choices but in earlier times any ancestor going someplace out of the ordinary has a distinct story.
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