Kentucky Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

Other early immigrants included small groups of [[France|French]], [[Switzerland|Swiss]], and [[Wales|Welsh]]. During the mid-19th century the Ohio River brought many German immigrants and settlers from [[New England|New England]] and the [[Mid-Atlantic|Middle Atlantic]] states. Many [[Ireland|Irish]] settled in [[Jefferson County, Kentucky|Louisville]] during this time. {{Adoption KYGenWeb}}  

In 1820, historians estimate Kentucky's population was English (57%), Scots-Irish or Scots (18%), Welsh (9%), Irish (8%), German (6%), French (2%), Dutch (1%), and Swedish (0.2%) in ethnicity.<ref name="purvis">Thomas L. Purvis, "The Ethnic Descent of Kentucky's Early Population: A Statistical Investigation of European and American Source of Immigration, 1790-1820," ''Register of The Kentucky Historical Society,'' Vol. 80 (1982):263.</ref><br><br>There was a large [[Kentucky African Americans|African American]] population in Kentucky prior to the Civil War. The coal boom of the early 1900s brought additional African Americans and new immigrants from Europe to work in the Cumberland Plateau area. Further information on specific settlement patterns can be found in county and local histories. <br><br>Filson's early history, which "portrayed Kentucky as a natural paradise,&nbsp;where peace, plenty, and security reigned," and contained&nbsp;a narrative of Daniel Boone, became very popular.<ref name="null">Much of his motivation, no doubt, was to attract settlers to purchase his unoccupied land grants. [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/3/ "The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke (1784) ..."], Digital Commons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.</ref> Filson&nbsp;influenced many of our ancestors to venture out to this newly opening area of settlement: