Janice Miller Welch, Clifton, Virginia: My grandfather Charles Thomas Miller, born in 1879 in Montgomery County, Iowa, had terrible allergies to the grains grown there. His parents moved him and his brothers to Tacoma, Washington, for the sea air. Charles’s son, Charles Stuver Miller, moved to Iowa but didn’t stay long—he had inherited his father’s allergies. Since then, all Charles Thomas Miller’s descendants have stuck to the coasts.

Frances Taylor, San Francisco, California: In 1850, my great-grandfather Barton Stout Taylor of Michigan was diagnosed with consumption. In November 1851, Barton and his wife, Marietta Rowland Taylor, purchased a horse and carriage and began traveling south with their children, four-year-old Augustus and an infant daughter, as well as a young woman described by Barton in his journal as a “nurse girl” hired to help Marietta. Marietta paid for the trip through the vocal performances she gave at each stop along the way. Marietta also kept a journal detailing the family’s travels through Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, finally returning by a different route to Michigan in May 1852. Sadly, Marietta died of consumption in 1857. Barton died at 78 in 1898.

Connie Duffey, Braselton, Georgia: My mother had severe rheumatoid arthritis. In the 1970s we moved from South Bend, Indiana, to Phoenix, Arizona. My parents hoped the drier climate and warm winters would help my mother’s arthritis. Unfortunately, the weather did not significantly improve her symptoms and medications were not as effective in those days, so she became more crippled.

Christine West, Annapolis, Maryland: My great-grandfather David Murray (1862-1909) was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and immigrated to Massachusetts to work in the textile industry. Due to the poor air quality of the factories, David developed breathing problems. In his late thirties, David moved his family to the mountains of Lynchburg, Virginia, in search of fresh air. He supported his family by working in a haberdashery but died in 1909 of an illness—possibly pneumonia—related to his long history of breathing problems.