Hi,
There is a John Slack, wife Sarah and one year old daughter on the USA Federal Census in 1860. They are living in South Amherst, Lorain County, Ohio.
John and his growing family also appear on the Federal Census for years 1870 and 1880.
The thing is that his place of birth is only given as England, so I suppose my question about looking for an actual place in England is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Is there a way of finding out which town/village/county he came from in England?
What I am trying to do is to find out how many men and their families emigrated from certain parts of the County of Derbyshire, in England, to live around South Amherst or Oberlin, in Lorain County, Ohio.
Currently I have around a list of ten or so men and their respective wives and children, all of whom seemed to have moved to South Amherst, Oberlin, or in one case La Grange. The men moved from the area of Derbyshire where I live, where in the 19th and 20th centuries especially, quarrying was a likely occupation. The attraction of moving to Lorain County, around South Amherst and Oberlin, was of course the large sandstone quarry in South Amherst, and the prospect of work there.
Working in the quarry was apparently the above John Slack's occupation also. One interesting thing is that as he was there by 1860 as the census indicates. That being the case, he would have arrived around 20 years before any of the other men on my current list, some of whom are also named Slack.
I would be grateful for any thoughts as to whether there is a way of confirming an actual place of birth in England for the aforementioned John Slack.
Regards,
Alan
