In the latest episode of Many Rivers To Cross, the Great Migration was briefly discussed. It got me to thinking about my family who pretty much all left the south in the early 1900s. I wrote an earlier series about the Graham side of my family and their move from Montgomery, Alabama to Detroit in 1917. You can read about that at these links:
- Mershell C. Graham on the Porch
- S – SHELL, Bound for the Promised Land
- Prologue: Montgomery
- The Land of Hope
- One Way Ticket
- The Steamer “Eastern States” – 1917
- Rev. E.E. Scott
- Founding Plymouth
- Founders
- Edward M. Dale – Scott’s letter 1917
- Edward A. & Alixe Harris– Directory Detroit 1919
- Joseph Shannon – Detroit Directory 1919
- Thomas Benjamin – 1911 436 Clinton, Detroit Directory. Col’d porter
- Thelma Benjamin – 1919 Detroit directory
- Moses L. Thompson & Carrie L. Thompson – Scott’s letter 1917
- Louis C Farley – directory 1919 384 Orleans, laborer
- Blakley – Beckwith Marriage
- The Proposal
- The Proposal accepted
- Announcement of Marriage
- Mershell Graham and Fannie Mae Turner Marriage License
- Graham-Turner Wedding – 1919 Montgomery Alabama
- A Mouse Machine & Mrs. Topp
- Chickens in Detroit 1919
- Grahams in the 1920 Census
- Letters from home – Montgomery to Detroit 1918
- Those Left Behind
- Lewis Gilmer
- Rufus Taylor
- Nan Taylor
- 3 Men in Hats
- Ula Mae’s Uncle Lowndes Adams
- Lowndes Adams
- Lowndes Adams Found in 1965 – Migration Story Part 5
- Clifton Graham
- Mattie Graham
To continue the story, I wrote about my Grandfather Albert B. Cleage and his siblings move from Athens, Tennessee to Indianapolis, Indiana and finally to Detroit, Michigan, with mention of Uncle Edward Cleage and his family who remained in Athens.
- T – TRAVELING from the South up North – Cleage
- James Cleage 1870 – 1933
- Josephine “Josie” Cleage
- Jacob Cleage 1874-1942
- H is for Henry William Cleage
- Celia Rice Cleage Sherman 1855-1930
I covered my Grandmother Pearl Reed Cleage and the Reed family’s move from Lebanon, KY first to Indianapolis in the 1890s and on to Benton Harbor and Detroit, Michigan, with Uncle Hugh (Reed) Averette moving out to Los Angeles California.
- A is for Anna Allen Reed
- Y – YET More Migrations – The migration paths of my grandmother Pearl Reed Cleage’s family
- A to Z Challenge 2017 – Thomas (Ray) Allen
Below are the posts I wrote about Eliza and Dock Allen’s children and grandchildren leaving Montgomery for Chicago, Detroit and New York.
- The Migration – From Montgomery to Detroit
- Eliza’s Children Move North
- R – RELOCATING North, Eliza’s Family
- Keeping in Touch in Detroit
- The Great Migration in Poetry
- Jennie Turner
I have not yet added my husband’s family. They started in Dermott, AR. Catherine Williams went to Seattle, WA. Vennie Jean Williams went to Arkadelphia. Sterling Williams spent time in Little Rock before going to Chicago. Chester and Theola (Davenport )Williams (my in-laws) moved to St. Louis, MO. The Davenports started in Mer Rouge, Louisiana. My mother-in-laws father moved to Arkansas. Members of both the Davenports and the Williams migrated to Chicago. Many relatives remained in rural AR, although none of my husband’s aunts or uncles.
To see other posts I’ve written about this series , click this link My Responses to Many Rivers to Cross. You will also find links to other bloggers responding to this series by sharing their own personal family stories.
For those interested, I found the map I used at this site about the Great Migration.
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Your computer skills really impress me, and I am grateful for the information also.
When one spends 12 hours a day on the computer for years on end, skills are bound to improve as general health deteriorates. Even my grandchildren are impressed.
I can do some good with this map. I didn’t realize The Great Migration in terms of looking at it on a map. This is Great, can’t wait to hear all abt it!
True, you can find a copy of the map without my additions here http://www.centerstage.org/marainey/Digital-Dramaturgy/The-Great-Migration/The-Great-Migration-Map.aspx
This is really good, I can’t wait to read the rest of your stories. They are so interesting. Love the map, it’s a great idea.
Thanks Bernita. I’m glad you enjoy them.
Thank you for these links. I am going back to read these fascinating stories in order, since I hadn’t read any of this series yet. What a feeling, to know where the different branches of your family came from and the routes they took as they migrated-(roots and routes, as Paul Gilroy and others have put it). What a lot of hard traveling people have done! The 19th and 20th centuries were truly centuries of uprooting and migration, as much internally and internationally. What new moves lie ahead?
It seems like there was a one generation lull in my family, and then the traveling started up again.
The map is really interesting. I hadn’t realized that there were regional differences in where people tended to migrate, but it makes sense that people would tend to relocate to areas that weren’t too distant where some of their friends and relatives had previously moved.
They tended to go straight up, following the shortest route, taking the shortest train route from where they were. Then, after the first groups relocated, their friends would follow them. Except for those going west to California.
This is great post and gives me some ideas!
Good! Look forward to reading what you come up with.