VA-PA-MD-WV Research

In the part of the country where these 4 states overlap, during the late 1700s they were organized into counties and districts that no longer exist. Even if you KNOW your people lived in Washington Co, PA, for example, you need to check these other states. And of course, county boundaries shifted. One site where you might find useful leads, at least, in the form of online indexes, is Loudon Co, VA, which earns kudos for having a Historic Records section. Maybe all VA counties do, I'm no VA expert, but it specifically advertises itself as the only county there that has all its records or nearly all. The Civil War (1861-65) wiped out many repositories in VA. Here is a link to the Loudon Co historic records site: https://www.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?NID=2165. Then click on "Historic Records Indexes" on the left. Their "Historic Records Newsletter" is also worth downloading. The "Web Resources" link will take you to statewide resources, which I will check out later. One outmigration path from New England was through PA (often Washington Co) and during the 1600s some Allertons and Howlands had already emigrated to the Chesapeake bay area (DE, MD, VA).