Emmigration to California

[TonyMcGartland]

What would be the incentive or attraction to California back in the 1870s for a young lad from Co. Leitrim? Where there any work incentives or opportunities?

He settled there and farmed.

[Erato]

Gold.

[oldohiohome]

You could also look for siblings or cousins in the area. or surnames that are common in his part of Co. Leitrim. People a lot of times went where they knew people.

[TonyMcGartland]

You could also look for siblings or cousins in the area. or surnames that are common in his part of Co. Leitrim. People a lot of times went where they knew people.

I have found all his family from his marriage to present day. There is no evidence of other family there, others followed later but went to East Coast.

[oldohiohome]

Then gold sounds likely, as Erato said

[Erato]

"He settled there and farmed."

California has some of the best farmland in the world.  That might have been an incentive if gold was not the attraction.