I just found this article on migration theory into Kentucky. My family also
migrated from Fairfax County, VA to Bourbon and Shelby County, KY.

http://www.ancestry.com/cs/Satellite?c=Learning_C&childpagename=USLearningCenter%2FLearning_C%2FPageDefault&pagename=LearningWrapper&cid=1265125597415

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 3:48 PM, CLAUDE RICHARDS <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Thanks to all who responded to my question about navigability of the
> Potomac.  I have already ordered a copy of "George Washington's America..."
> and will surely give special emphasis to the maps listed in the Smithsonian
> article.  Be assured that I will check out all the suggestions that you all
> gave me.
>
> I have no family tradition about a boat trip up the Potomac.  My Richards
> family shows up in (probably) Fairfax Co. in 1740.  The other great
> question plaguing us is "Where did they come from?"
>
> Several children are reputed to have been born in VA.  One actually stated
> during life that he was born in Fairfax Co. The last child born to this
> family was in 1784.  In 1792 the mother and sons appear on the tax lists in
> Mason Co., KY.
>
> I had corresponded with Paul Drake about the likely route west.  He
> responded that the Gt. Valley Road, Cumberland Gap and then north to
> Maysville (Limestone) would be most likely.  This last spring I drove that
> route, learning that Cumberland Gap during that period was a trail for pack
> mules -- wagons didn't pass through there until after my people would have.
>  That started me wondering about Braddock's Road and river passage on the
> Potomac, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers.
>
> Obviously this is a question that may never be resolved.  Mine was a
> family of little consequence and virtually no records.  I had hoped that
> knowing the most likely route might put me in touch with people or counties
> whose records might give me a clue.  Still hoping.
>
> Passing through Ft. Boonesborough gave me a whole new picture of my
> family.  I had never imagined them in buckskins before.  This brings me to
> another question:  Does anyone have suggestions where I can get information
> about the transition from "city" living in VA to life on the frontier.
>  Where did they learn how to prepare; what supplies to take; how to make
> the journey?
>
> Thank you all again.  This is an awesome list where a great deal of
> knowledge and experience are collected.  You are all wonderful.
>
> Claude Richards
>
> "Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. Government is force; like
> fire it is a dangerous servant -- and a fearful master.”
>
> —George Washington
>
>
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