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Archiver > NYFingerLakes > 2005-03 > 1109961164
From:
Subject: Re: [NYFL] Finger Lakes to Detroit
Date: Fri, 04 Mar 2005 13:32:44 -0500
That's really interesting. I didn't know that all property was passed to the eldest son. I sort of remember, from my high school Michigan history class, something about ribbon farms, that property was divided among the sons resulting in long, narrow farms.
When did Michigan first open up for land sales?
-Liz McGough
wrote:
>Hi all,
>
> When Michigan was being settled, family tradition was still to pass ALL of
>the father's property on to the oldest son....sometimes lots were divided
>off for younger sons, but generally not enough to make a living as a farmer.
>When Michigan first opened up for land sales, they advertised heavily in the
>Western NY region because available land had become scarce here, and many of
>the "younger sons" moved into the Michigan lands to start their own farms.
> I have plenty of "younger sons" in my family tree who moved to
>Michigan....and most of the places where they settled did indeed have the same or very
>similar names as the areas in Western NY they had left behind.
>
>HAPPY HUNTING!!
>Joan in Genesee County, NY
>
>For research assistance in Western New York, please visit
>
>:
>_http://hometown.aol.com/jma8763/myhomepage/business.html_
>(http://hometown.aol.com/jma8763/myhomepage/business.html)
>
>
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