Contributed by local historian, Gary Norris

Migrations were made by single families or groups of families. These migrations were supposed to have taken place over a period of years. I understand Southern Illinois was swampy, and the migrants went through a combination yellow fever and typhoid epidemic in the 1830’s and 1840’s. It has been told that many of the survivors returned to the homes of their kin in Overton County.

There were many Confederate soldiers and their families who migrated to Texas after the Civil War so they might escape the wrath of the Union men in the county. The Klan was also on the rampage and young men could not get land or jobs.

Many people migrated to railroad towns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Before there were factory jobs there were busy rail centers. I have seen letters in old Overton County newspapers which talked of job opportunities in such railroad towns. Rockwood, Tennessee was such a center in Tennessee. Later on, Overton Countians went to Cincinnati to make radios for Crosley.

Old Hickory was a dynamite factory town for DuPont in World War I.

There are countless towns and cities that Overton Countians migrated to in order to find work.