When the need to move was great

Looking at ancestors and considering the times in which they lived shows some families have a need to move.

In the 1850 federal census, Great-great Grandfather Jeremiah Ward lived in Fannin County Texas. He was born in 1788 in South Carolina. His wife, Nancy Ward, was born in 1806 in Kentucky. Their oldest child, Jeremiah Jr., was born in 1832 in Illinois. Son Lewis, 16, was born in Missouri. Their other children -- Andrew J., 12; Ellen and Sarah, 9; Amanda, 7; James, 5; and John, 3, were born in Texas.

Track that route on a map – South Carolina to Kentucky to Illinois to Missouri to Texas – in the 1820s and 1830s, by horse and wagon and on foot … That equals several hundreds of miles, the crossing of rivers and making one’s way through forests and across plains.