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My Birth
My name is David O'Grady and I immigrated to America from Ireland. I was born on October 19, 1920 into a very poor family. Because I was born into a poor family I was forced to work on the farms my whole life. My whole life started at birth I lived on a farm and was ruled by landowners. My life was hard when I started growing up having to work in debt. The temperatures were harsh both in summer and winter making crop growth much worse. -
Period: to
Immigration Timelin & Westward Movement
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Life on the Farm
Life as a poor young boy was hard especially having to work my whole life as a farmer.I had to do different types of chores out where I lived like harvesting wheat. Also keeping the animals in line was really tough because they were so energetic. Working in hot temperatures aren't my very favorite either making life even harder than it already was. Harsh conditions made it really hard to work in the fields and during winter crops were impossible to grow. -
Potato Famine
Because of the potato famine I moved to America for more fertile land. Potatoes in Ireland were poisoned form the unfertile soil. This made it impossible to grow Ireland’s favorite crop, potatoes. Also without crops I couldn’t sell anything for money so I went farther and farther into debt. Also I wouldnt even have food to eat. -
Evil Land Owners
Evil Land owners burnt down houses and killed innocent people because of debt causing me to be homeless and alone. Land owners would go around burning poor family houses to the ground because of debt. The potato famine made it impossible to make money which meant I was still in debt. Also these evil landowners killed both my parents making my life extremely hard. Because of these landowners I had to live the rest of my life alone. -
Immigrating
Because of the famine and evil land owners I set journey to America.I was on the boat going to America for 4 weeks. Since I was poor I was in steerage meaning I couldn’t carry much luggage at all. The things I did bring to America were clothing to keep warm and my families last silver spoon which I could trade for American currency. I also had some of the worst food of my life on that boat. But once I saw the land of America I felt happier than ever before. -
Traveling West
Because I needed food and a new life I set off with the other farmers to Nevada.We decided to go to Nevada because it was a perfect racial mix and the land was very fertile. The journey was long and hard with all the bad weather and living conditions. Because of the extremely bad weather conditions it made it impossible during winter to travel. Even though this was one of the biggest obstacles of my life it was definitely worth it. -
The Promised Land
After the long 106 day journey I ended up in my 160 acre land where I could start up a farm and live my new life successfully.The journey was extremely hard but after I made it to the Western land I knew it was a good choice to immigrate to the Promised Land. The new land was perfect for potatoes and the land was just perfect overall. The homestead act helped me so much because it gave me free land as long as I kept it up. Now I know moving to America was the best decision of my life. -
My Death
Living a lonesome life was very hard through the years, and after a while I had nothing to fight for and to live for. Through these long 73 years I experienced many different things before dying of old age. I experienced emigrating from a different country to America which was hard but in the end was beautiful. I experienced all sorts of different people like Italians, Swedish, and much more. -
My Death (2)
Also 6 years after I lived on my American farmland the judges saw that I kept the land up so let me keep my farm.I went through horrible droughts, cold winters, and scary animals on my time with the land, but in the end I’m extremely happy I went to live in America. -
The Homestead Act
The Homestead Act declared that all land West of the Mississippi River was free. I was very greatful for this Act because it gave me free 160 acre land as long as I kept it up for 5 years. My first goal on my new land was to have a house. After i finished my hospitality i started on my crop growth. Having past experience with crops was very helpful with my new land making starting a new life easier than ever.
