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=== | ==Finding Town of Origin== | ||
Records in the countries emigrated from are kept on the local level. You must first identify the '''name of the town''' where your ancestors lived to access those records. If you do not yet know the name of the town of your ancestor's birth, there are well-known strategies for a thorough hunt for it. | |||
*[[U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin|'''U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin''']] | |||
== Background == | |||
The original European settlers came in the early 17th century from the midland and southern counties of [[England Genealogy|England]].<ref>David Hackett Fischer, ''Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989). {{FHL|593285|item|disp=FHL Book 973 H2fis}}.</ref> They first settled in [[Virginia, United States Genealogy|Virginia]]'s tidewater (coastal plain). Many colonists had connections to [[Barbados Genealogy|Barbados]].<ref>David L. Kent, ''Barbados and America'' (Arlington, Va.: C.M. Kent, 1980). {{FHL|316574|item|disp=FHL Book 972.981 X2b}}.</ref> The earliest Africans to Barbados was in 1619. Starting in 1680, large numbers of Africans were captured and brought as slaves to Barbados. It has been estimated that 75% of white colonists arrived in bondage as indentured servants or transported convicts.<ref>Wesley Frank Craven, ''White, Red, and Black: The Seventeenth-Century Virginian'' (Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1971).</ref> Small landholders moved westward to the Piedmont, where they were joined by a new wave of English and [[Scotland|Scottish]] immigrants. | The original European settlers came in the early 17th century from the midland and southern counties of [[England Genealogy|England]].<ref>David Hackett Fischer, ''Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989). {{FHL|593285|item|disp=FHL Book 973 H2fis}}.</ref> They first settled in [[Virginia, United States Genealogy|Virginia]]'s tidewater (coastal plain). Many colonists had connections to [[Barbados Genealogy|Barbados]].<ref>David L. Kent, ''Barbados and America'' (Arlington, Va.: C.M. Kent, 1980). {{FHL|316574|item|disp=FHL Book 972.981 X2b}}.</ref> The earliest Africans to Barbados was in 1619. Starting in 1680, large numbers of Africans were captured and brought as slaves to Barbados. It has been estimated that 75% of white colonists arrived in bondage as indentured servants or transported convicts.<ref>Wesley Frank Craven, ''White, Red, and Black: The Seventeenth-Century Virginian'' (Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1971).</ref> Small landholders moved westward to the Piedmont, where they were joined by a new wave of English and [[Scotland|Scottish]] immigrants. | ||
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Beginning in the late 18th century, Virginia lost many residents as families moved westward to new states and territories. There was very little foreign immigration to Virginia after 1800. | Beginning in the late 18th century, Virginia lost many residents as families moved westward to new states and territories. There was very little foreign immigration to Virginia after 1800. | ||
==== German Immigrants ==== | |||
A group of Germans created a settlement called Germanna in early eighteenth-century Virginia. Several books have been published about the history and genealogy of these families, such as:<br> | |||
'''[[Germanna Foundation]]''' maintains a visitor's center with genealogical library. They work to promote historic preservation as well as family history information and research. | |||
==How to Find the Records== | ==How to Find the Records== | ||