Located between the Main and Upper Rhine rivers and extending south to Switzerland, the Rhenish Pfalz was devastated by wars between Catholic France and Protestant German states, overpopulation, heavy taxation, and exceptionally harsh winters between 1708 and 1719. Conditions were rife for ex-migration.

Shenandoah Co VA was a key crossroad in early westward migration. Lying along a natural path between the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny's, the Shenandoah River emptied north out of the Valley of Virginia into the Potomac River. In the early 1700s as European settlers expanded civilization westward, they followed this path south and west out of central Pennsylvania. In the vicinity of Winchester, Frederick Co VA, the road split. The original Indian path lead south and west to the Carolinas and Georgia. And, the new road led north and west into Ohio. It was at this junction where the Weaver Family is believed to have split. Some sons and father George continued south and west into Virginia, and son Michael and others migrating north and west into Ohio.

Geographically, Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi. During the Colonial Period, Georgia also had the smallest population. This created an opportunity for free land. Beginning in 1805, Georgia established a Land Lottery system where immigrants and residents were allowed to draw lots for free land in the newly opened Indian lands. Each family drew one lot for each person over age 18. And, the Land Lottery drew immigrants to Georgia, especially from the Carolinas and Virginia.

After the Revolutionary War, a large percentage of settlers along the frontier migrated to newly opened western lands. Similar to the "Gone to Georgia" migration pattern, large portions of frontier populations seized the opportunity for inexpensive lands, migrating from the Carolinas and Virginia to what would become Alabama and Mississippi. The history of two families, the Lees of Robeson Co NC and the McPhersons of South Carolina, illustrate this phenomenon.

Beginning in 1845, Ireland suffered one of the greatest famines in modern times. Between 1845 and late 1850, the population of Ireland was reduced by 50%; as 1 out of 4 persons died from starvation or associated diseases and 1 out of 4 persons migrated, mostly to America.

Caveat