Anyone else have "Bedouins" in the family?

[Rosie1223]

My nomadic GG-Grandfather: 7 counties, 4 states and counting!

Born in 1848
1850 Census -- Meriwether Co, GA
1860 Census -- Tallapoosa Co, AL
1870 Census -- Can't find him! (imagine that!)
1876 Marriage in Obion Co, TN
1880 Census -- Weakley Co, TN
1900 Census -- Dunklin Co, MO
1910 Census -- Cape Girardeau Co, MO
1920 Census -- Scott Co, MO
Death in 1927.

I am trying to find him in 1860 - 1875. He wasn't with his mother (1870 census, Etowah Co, AL), his younger sister was married in 1872 in Giles Co, TN. It's possible he served in the Civil War but I haven't had luck with service records or the 1890 Vet's census. There's family lore of a 1st marriage in this time period, too, but that could have been anywhere. Anyone have any off-beat suggestions for me?

[sybylla]

1. Yep. Me too, but not quite as bad.

G-G-Great-grandparents left Ohio about 1860 a young couple sporting their first child, and accompanied by his newly married sister and brother-in-law. After a couple of years in which I have no idea where they lived, they settled in Wisconsin long enough to raise another four children and see the oldest two married. Then sold everything off, packed up and moved to Kansas, where they still roamed a bit before finding a place to call home.

[csziggy]

2. My GG?-Grandfather left Perry County, Alabama in 1860 and went to Arkansas

Along with a whole crowd of other relatives. He died in White County, Arkansas, in 1863 and his widow returned to Alabama after the war, to live with her father and brother. Some of the other relatives did, too, some went to Texas, some to Missouri, very few stayed in Arkansas.

Maybe your relative also went west?

One thing, that part of Central Alabama was originally famed for their black dirt, rich soil that grew great cotton, But by the 1850s and 60s intensive cotton farming had depleted the soil and yields were way down. Between that and that it was obvious that war was on the way, some people moved west to avoid being in the middle of the conflict and looked for new farm land to replace the old worn out land.