Settlement in Washington CO, NY was rapid after the Revolution, with many soldiers coming with their families to take advantage of the rich land, abundant game and waterways they had observed during their military service.
These settlers were mainly of English and Scots descent whose ancestors had first established themselves in the New England colonies.
This pattern of movement to newer lands was a theme for generations of these Paddocks as they moved out of RI to NY. Information about David's time in Washington CO is sketchy. It is known that three of his sons, Thomas, James SR, and David JR met and married three McCloughry sisters there.
The three would relocate to Onondaga CO, NY about 1805. Another of David's sons, Levi, also moved to Onondaga CO. Levi and James SR's son, James JR, would wind up in Laporte CO, IN. David, now a widower and blind, accompanied them to Onondaga CO and probably lived with a daughter there. Son James SR was a property owner in the Town of Camillus, Onondaga CO in 1825; a miller by trade, operating a grist mill on Dead Creek in Van Buren Twp. The mill never made money and James lost it due to financial troubles. In the 1960s, a road maintenance crew found the old mill stones half buried along a roadside. They were recovered and put on display in front of the Van Buren Twp headquarters building.

The War of 1812 was over. Large tracts of land were opening up in the West. Word was getting back to the East about virgin lands available at low cost. IN became a state in 1816; MI in 1837. By 1835, most of the government land had been sold. The Onondaga CO, NY area, including Van Buren Twp, must have been very prosperous for many settlers with the nearby Erie Canal - but not all. Some of these big families needed a lot of new land for the next generation and looked further West to achieve the dream of owning abundant land.

Many took advantage of what seemed to them to be an easy and inexpensive trip to the frontier, much of it taking place after the Erie Canal opened in 1825, allowing settlers from NY to reach MI by water and make the trek to Laporte CO, IN overland from Detroit on what would become known as the Chicago Road. The Chicago Road begins in downtown Detroit, just blocks from the Detroit River, and extends through southern MI to the MI/IN border South of New Buffalo. It was originally a network of centuries-old trails created by Native Americans. Over the years it had different names such as Sauk Trail and Michigan Avenue.

Three days after the first Erie Canal boat arrived in Buffalo, NY from the East, one boat loaded with 50 emigrants bound for MI arrived. A year later as many as 1200 emigrants "Seeking west" were delivered in one day. The Erie Canal had prompted the first great westward migration of American settlers. For a time, Northern IN, once a "bleak wilderness", became the most important part of the state.

The sense of adventure, romanticism and wanderlust affecting many decisions to go further West must have affected many of the Paddocks and their neighbors. (James Paddock JR's grandson, Wendell Paddock, wrote in a brief Paddock history that since a number of the old families in Galena Township were from the same vicinity of NY, he thought they might have left because of general unrest, and follow the leader.) James Paddock SR's business failure no doubt was a motivation to relocate. He was in his 50's by then and probably saw little future staying in Onondaga CO. Besides, some of his children were making plans to emigrate further West. He and Ann would be dependent on the children for support as they got older. So after 1830, several Paddock families packed for the trip west.
There are two versions of David Paddock's travels. One is that he went West to IL with his daughter, Phoebe, and her husband, Benjamin Weaver in 1833. The other is that In 1837 or 1838 he moved with his son William Don to Salem Twp, Kenosha CO, WI to be with William. The latter is probably correct, since David Paddock resided in Salem Twp  until his death in 1847, and is believed to be buried in the Liberty Corners Cemetery (His wife had died in 1808).

In Dec 2010, four generations of Paddocks gathered to observe the unveiling of a marker honoring David Paddock. The ceremony was held in Liberty Corners Cemetery with presentation of a bronze plaque recognizing his Revolutionary War service and for the first time providing a burial marker for him. Tradition says David Paddock was nicknamed “Blind David”, after gunpowder exploded in his face while fighting against the British at the second Battle of Saratoga in 1777. The burns blinded the then 24-year-old farmer, and veteran of numerous militia skirmishes up and down the Hudson Valley. His wounds didn’t diminish his reputation as a “Good fiddler.” About the same time as David's travels with his son William to Wisconsin, three of his sons, Levi, Matthew and James would head to Northern IN and IL.
James Paddock SR journeyed to Lockport, Will CO, IL with wife Ann (McCloughry), daughters Anna, Martha and son John Williams in 1836, where John Williams was the teacher of the first school. John was admitted to the bar in 1837 and practiced law. In June, 1853, John moved to Kankakee IL, then a small town, and in the fall of that year he relocated his family, sisters and parents James SR and Ann, to Kankakee. James and Ann are buried in the area.
Sometime between 1833 and 1835, James Paddock JR and his brother-in-law Julius C. Tappan, started west to IN. James's Grist mill operation had failed and times were tough for him in Onondaga CO, NY. The journey was made on the Erie canal and on foot. They were pleased with land they found in Laporte CO. Each man found a tract of land much "Like old York State" with hills, valleys, large trees and water and purchased same. They made improvements, clearing land and each built a log cabin.
James Paddock JR returned to NY, leaving Julius Tappan in charge of both new homes. He then brought his family (Wife and four sons, Irving, Steven, Albert and Morrison) out via the Erie Canal and a wagon driven by a yoke of oxen and two draft horses and arrived on the farm on August 17, 1835/6. Besides his own family were Matthew Paddock's wife Eleanor, Ami (Leanmi) Shead's wife Miranda and one child Candace. It was a long hard journey of from 4 to 6 weeks. Especially hard for the mother with four little boys, the eldest six, the youngest a baby. Hard for the father too being guide, teamster and caretaker.

A number of the pioneer families of Galena Twp came from the same vicinity in NY about the same time. Although people were neighbors though miles apart, some Paddocks intermarried with members of these families. I've been struck by the frequency of some surnames cropping up both in NY and in the IN area associated with the Paddock surname. Some of the associated families are Tappan, Ingersoll, Ware, Shead, and Goit. For example, there were three families who were in Mexico, Oswego CO, NY (Oswego CO borders Onondaga CO) by the end of the eighteenth century; the Wares, Goits, And Ingersolls. The Wares and the Goits had come to NY from VT.
Members of these families migrated to Northern IN. It's remarkable what hardships our early settlers had to endure, yet they just took the hardships in stride as they lived their lives. These families began to realize fully what a pioneer life in a dense forest meant. For the Paddock family, the horse team was sold and oxen used as they were considered best for logging and clearing stumps and roots. The land was heavily timbered with all kinds of trees. They had to be felled, chopped or sawed into logs, rolled into heaps and burned, mostly as there was little market for the sale of lumber, very little used for building then. Log houses had split logs for floors, stone and mud chimneys, homemade doors and trimmings, hinges and wood latches.

James Paddock, JR had married Charlotte Tappan in 1829, in Onondaga CO, NY. Her father was Stephen Tappan, a resident of NY. James and Charlotte were the parents of twelve children; eight sons and four daughters. Four were born in NY and the others on the farm in Galena Twp. Four sons, Irving, Harvey, Morrison, & Thomas served in the Civil War.