Culture of sw OH 1796 to 1820s? Why to IN? Pearce, Decker, Bennington, Rogers, Higgins, Laurance, Oliver, Lathers, Shepard, Barker, Montgomery

I research 4 sets of gg grandparents. At least five of the 8 surnames, plus many collateral families, migrated through southwest Ohio, staying there for a time. I have searched the names. I and other researchers have searched the public records (that were not destroyed in early fires). Perhaps by obtaining a visceral feel for the locales, one might better understand why some in families stayed in place and other members may have moved on. Most of mine went into se Indiana as soon as it was open for settlement.

Mine include one who appears to have been a "Winter Soldier" as many were who settled in Washington, Adams Co., OH. One was a Scots Irish immigrant evidently arriving during the Revolution. It appears my Higgins family was from VA and settled in Cynthiana, KY early on, though Robert Higgins did found Higginsport, OH and his children did share Christian names with mine. I wonder about that. Many of my Pearce and Jacobus ancestors were from NJ, earlier NY, CT and RI, and many from their locales settled southwest Ohio. Though not directly related to the Decker family, that I know of, it was certainly a marker family in Sussex Co., NJ and intermarried with my relatives. Identifying their marriages might produce clarifying details for me on my own ancestors' trek west.

The Rogers from Maryland are a brick wall. Wm. Rogers' wife was proudly identified as Dorcas Oliver. A Dorcas Oliver of earlier vintage is identified among Quakers who migrated to Monmouth Co., NJ. However, I can find no marriage for a William Rogers and Dorcas Oliver. His son's death certificate indicates his mother's name was "Laurance," from GA. This fits with Native American names and migrations as to kidnappings and releases. I have found Olivers and Laurances together in southwest PA. I found a Wm. Rogers, Quaker, marrying a "Susan" in PA or NJ; one of my ancestor's sons named his second daughter, "Susan" which might suggest his mother, Dorcas, was really a "Susan," maybe a "Susan Laurance," and a descendant of Dorcas Oliver. By the time the Winter Soldier's daughter, Abigail Rogers, died; her father was identified on her tombstone, though he may not have had a tombstone of his own; this act asserting pride for the "Winter Soldier" 100 years after the event. Samuel Montgomery may have been in Washington Co., PA in 1790; and in the Whiskey Rebellion. He was an early settler above Stout, Adams Co. Maybe his relatives were in Scioto Co., OH and the link to his heritage lost. Why were the Stotsenburgs traveling with the Montgomerys? Why did these folk migrated to Decatur Co., IN along with Wm. Rogers and his wife, Nancy Montgomery, daughter of Samuel and Margaret Barker Montgomery? These two families intermarried with the Giffords to a great extent. Who was Pickle Gifford? Was James Gifford his adopted father (the bloodlines don't match)? How were Native Americans linked in these families?

The Benningtons of Harford Co., MD were intermarried with the Mahans and many others in Brown Co., OH. They may also have been linked to the Rogers in Harford Co., MD after the Revolution. The Vanpelts are well documented in Warren Co. Many Dutch and English surnames link to my Pearces and to each other in Hamilton Co., and perhaps mine are related to the Pearce family of Trenton, Butler Co., OH..

What was the culture of the English/Dutch in this area at this time; other than that they put a high priority on education? It would seem they wanted to develop a canal system in se IN, along the lines of the then under construction Erie Canal as many had migrated by then from NJ to upstate NY, then to the Ohio River Valley.

Really would like to have 19th century or later pictures of kin.