Why Did My Ancestors Move There? How 1800s Promotional Literature Solves Family Migration Mysteries
- Tanya Jensen
- Jun 26
- 7 min read
Picture this: You're wandering through your local library (yes, people still do that!), minding your own business, when BAM! A display of dusty old local history books catches your eye. Being the history nerd that I am, I couldn't resist. And that's how I discovered Minnesota As It Is in 1870 by J.W. McClung, a book that would consume my entire week and leave me absolutely fascinated.
Now, before you roll your eyes and think "oh wonderful, another boring old book that'll put me to sleep," let me stop you right there. This isn't your typical snooze-fest of dates and dusty facts. This book is part time capsule, part travel brochure, part love letter to a young state that was just twelve years old, and exactly what every genealogist needs to bring their family tree to life.
McClung had one mission: convince people to pack up their lives and move to Minnesota. He was basically the 1870s equivalent of a tourism board, selling the dream of fertile farmland, a climate that would cure what ails you (seriously!), booming industries, and endless opportunity. But what he accidentally created was something far more valuable for us modern-day family history detectives.
Why Books Like This Are Genealogy Gold
Think about it, promotional books from the 1800s were meant to lure settlers, but they also captured an incredibly detailed snapshot of daily life. While your census records and birth certificates tell you the "what" and "when," books like this give you the precious "why" and "how."
Here's how Minnesota As It Is in 1870 can transform your genealogy research from a collection of names and dates into actual stories:
1. It's Like Having a Time Machine to Daily Life
McClung doesn't just throw statistics at you, he gets wonderfully specific about the nitty-gritty details of frontier life. Want to know what your great-great-grandfather might have paid for a yoke of oxen? That'll be $125-$150, thank you very much. A good milk cow? Anywhere from $30-$45. Planning to build a modest frame house? Better save up $600-$800.
And here's where it gets really interesting, he talks about community "bees" (and no, not the buzzing kind). These were barn-raising events where neighbors came together to help each other tackle big projects like house-raising, plowing, or husking corn. The payment? Well, McClung notes that "a keg of beer, or other spirituous consolation, or a dance and liberal fare" would cover all expenses. Apparently, paying people with beer is a time-honored Minnesota tradition that goes back way further than we thought! When money was scarce (which was often), "work pays for work" was the local currency, though clearly a good keg didn't hurt either.
2. It Solves the "Why Did They Move There?" Mystery
One of the biggest puzzles in genealogy is understanding why your ancestors picked up stakes and moved to seemingly random places. McClung spells it out: cheap land, promises of good health (more on that later), job opportunities in logging or farming, and the comfort of established communities of fellow immigrants. He even breaks down the nationalities of settlers by region, which is like getting a roadmap to where your immigrant ancestors likely landed.
3. It Preserves Local Details That Time Forgot
Each county gets its own little profile, complete with land prices, industries, churches, schools, and population figures. Researching a family in Morrison County? McClung's got you covered with details about what resources were available, what businesses were operating, and how the community was developing in 1870. It's like having a local guide from 150 years ago.
4. It Captures Voices and Stories That Challenge Assumptions
One of my favorite discoveries was the story of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women who homesteaded together near Darsel Station. Seven women! Running a farm! In 1870! These kinds of anecdotes don't just add color to history; they completely reshape our understanding of who was settling the frontier and how they were doing it. Spoiler alert: it wasn't just rugged male pioneers and prairie hardships.
5. It Turns Data Into Stories
Genealogy can sometimes feel like collecting baseball cards, except we’re collecting death certificates. But when you understand that your ancestor lived through the booming pineries of northern Minnesota, or was part of the health-driven migration from the East Coast, or was drawn by the promise of that famous "black, warm, sandy loam" that guaranteed abundant wheat harvests, suddenly those names and dates become real people making real decisions in a real world.
The Climate Sales Pitch That'll Make You Laugh (Or Cry)
Here's where McClung's promotional genius really shines, and where modern readers might do a double-take. Remember, this was the era when people thought bad air caused disease, so McClung had to address Minnesota's elephant in the room: those brutal winters.
His solution? Pure marketing magic. He flips the script and promotes the dry, cold air as a health cure, especially for people suffering from "consumption" (tuberculosis). He actually includes testimonials from people claiming their health dramatically improved after moving to Minnesota.
Imagine if we marketed flu season that way today: "Come to Minnesota! Our freezing temperatures will cure what ails you!" But hey, it worked back then, and McClung even backs it up with temperature data to prove the climate is "moderate" (if you squint really hard at those winter numbers).
More Than Just a Historical Curiosity
Minnesota As It Is in 1870 isn't just a fascinating read, it's a vital research tool. Whether you're tracing a family who settled in rural Goodhue County, trying to understand the early infrastructure of Minneapolis, or just want to know what life was like when your great-grandmother was born, this book offers the kind of depth and color that brings your research to life.
The best part? You don't have to hunt it down in some dusty archive. You can read the full text of Minnesota As It Is in 1870 online or download it as a PDF from the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/rc01001092/. You can also try finding a physical copy on eBay or at your local library, and those old-time advertisements alone are worth the search.
If you find this type of promotional book useful for your genealogy research, there are tons more waiting to be discovered. The Library of Congress has digitized hundreds of these 19th-century recruitment materials at https://www.loc.gov/, so you can explore what other states were promising their potential settlers. Harvard's Immigration Collection at https://library.harvard.edu/collections/immigration-united-states-1789-1930 is another treasure trove, with over 2,200 books and pamphlets documenting how America was selling itself to the world.
The Bigger Picture: Why These Promotional Books Matter
Minnesota As It Is in 1870 is just one example of a whole genre of promotional literature that was incredibly popular throughout the 1800s. As westward expansion picked up steam and legislation like the Homestead Act of 1862 opened up vast new territories, states across America began publishing their own versions of these settler recruitment guides.
These promotional books and pamphlets were everywhere during the 19th century, and they all followed a similar playbook. States would create immigration boards or committees (sometimes partnering with railroad companies for travel deals) to produce glossy marketing materials highlighting their natural resources, economic opportunities, favorable climate, and religious freedoms. Many were even translated into German, French, Dutch, and Welsh to appeal directly to European immigrants.
What makes these books so valuable for genealogists today isn't just what they reveal about specific places, but how they help us understand the "why" behind our ancestors' decisions. When you discover your great-great-grandmother moved from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin in 1867, finding Wisconsin's promotional materials from that era can tell you exactly what promises and opportunities convinced her to make that leap.
These books were basically 19th-century sales pitches trying to get people to move west, but they accidentally became incredible time capsules of daily life during one of America's biggest growth spurts. For those of us digging into family history, they're like having a front-row seat to understand what was actually happening in our ancestors' world, and more importantly, why they made the choices they did.
They describe not just where people lived, but why they chose to live there, what challenges they faced, and what opportunities they found. They're windows into the social, economic, and environmental conditions that helped determine the course of American settlement patterns.
Your Next Genealogy Adventure Awaits
So here's my challenge to you: the next time you're at your library and you see a display of old local history books gathering dust, take a closer look. You might just find your next genealogy breakthrough hiding in plain sight.
And if you're researching Minnesota families, Minnesota As It Is in 1870 should be at the top of your reading list. It's not just about understanding the past, it's about discovering the fascinating blend of ambition, practicality, and sheer audacity that convinced people to bet their entire futures on a place where winter lasts half the year.
Who knows? You might discover that your ancestor was one of those hardy souls McClung was trying to attract, drawn by promises of fertile soil and healthy air, ready to build a new life in a young state full of possibility. And that, my fellow history lovers, is what genealogy is really all about.
Ready to dive deeper into your own family history? At Beyond Generations Genealogy, we specialize in bringing your ancestors' stories to life through professional genealogy research, custom family history books, and photo scanning and restoration services. Whether you need help tracking down elusive records or want to preserve your family memories in a beautiful keepsake book, we're here to help you go beyond the basics and discover the rich stories that make your family unique. Visit us at www.beyondgenerationsgenealogy.com to learn more about how we can help you uncover your family's past.
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