I'm researching that very thing right now Janaia. I started with the 1790 census in NC and going forward documenting every single instance of Pettiford using soundex. I'm up to 1870 (and almost done with that) and will continue at least through 1880 census. Basically what I'm trying to do is reconstruct the family lines and see how folks are related. I have noticed a lot of folks moved various years and looked them up country-wide and found them in OH, IN, and IL primarily, and am also recording that. At this point, I have not found any in NY, but that doesn't mean much since I am still focusing on NC. My research though focuses on the pre-Civil War era, and I've only gone past that because of Pettifords born before the Civil War still in the census. I may continue to go further past 1900, I may not, but if I find anyone going to NY, I'll let you know