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I was born
I was born on a rainy day in London, England to Elizabeth and George Ashford. I was the second of three children, named Elizabeth Ann Ashford after my mother. Our family was rich at the time, but after a while we were ruined. We didn't have any money by the time my little sister, Betsy was born. -
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Timespan
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Going to America
There was an agricultural depression in England and after my older sister and my mother died of starvation my dad decided to sent us. to America. He bought us two first class tickets with the last of our family money after selling the castle we had in London. He heard that there were a lot of jobs in America and that we would live a better life there, so he sent us off with a kiss on the cheek and a trunkful of fancy dresses to wear there, a brush to keep my hair nice and shiny, and a book. -
Arrival at Ellis Island
We had been on the boat for three long weeks, Betsy and I, when we saw the Statue of Liberty. The lady, standing taller than the sky towering down on us even if we saw her from afar. She embraced us, two children, one twenty four and the other merely eight, like a mother. Tears came to my eyes as I saw her, for that moment I knew, we were really in America. We met a nice lady that offered me a job in her shop and we settled into the spare room in her apartment. -
Monopoly
The shop I was working at made dresses for young women. Another shop, that made same dresses but was much more fancy, right across the street stole all of our buisness becuase of its low prices and our shop went out of buisness. This act, of buying off al the competion, is called Monopoly, it often happened in the oil company. Once the shop closed, I was fired and Betsy and I were suddently out in the streets again with nowhere to go. -
Work in the Factories
After three months in the streets, with little to eat and no roof over our heads, I finally gave in to work in the factories. Until then I had denied to go work there because I knew we would have to work long hard hours in a stuffy room. After seeing Betsy become thin and worn out, I finally gave in. The work did not disappoint me, it was hard and I hated to see my little sister go through the hardships of not seeing the sunlight, and having to work long hard hours with little to eat. -
Sickness
After months of working in the factories, Betsy fianlly got sick. We both turned a year older in the past couple months, but our birthdays went by without our acknoledgement, and I had begin to let my guard down. Betsy was a year older, and a year stronger. She wouldn't get sick as easily, but I was wrong. Betsy soon became too ill to work and they fired her as well as me. We were on our own again, with nowhere to go and Betsy becoming weaker and weaker every day. The piercing cold didn't help. -
Help, finally!
Betsy was getting sicker and sicker every day and I couldn't find a job with having to care for her every day. Thankfully, one day, at the time we were inside some old abandoned barn with our dressses as blankets, I met a nice lady while I was trying to buy some food with a nickle I found on the ground the day before, she noticed my ragged clothing and purple lips and asked if I needed help. I told her I needed help with my sick sister and she offered to cure her for free. -
Moving West
Ever since I found the kind woman in the streets that day, our lives got easier. She cured Besty and sort of adopted us as daughters. We lived at her place with her husband and her son, we had everything we wanted. Then one day, her husband, John, decided to move west. He said he heard about the Homestead Act, that gave 160 acres of land to wheover came to the west. He said that his buisness at his shoe shop was scarce and they couldn't afford it anymore. Also, he wanted life away from the city. -
Reaching Oregon
We had finally reached our denstination, Oregon. We stopped at other places along the way, like Utah, but we didn't like it there. Oregon seemed perect. Slowly, we built a new and comfortable life in this new place. Me and the son, John jr. were now married and he farmed in our land. His parents and Betsy, now ten, lived in the piece of land next to ours. I saw them every day. Life was shaping out to be perfect. -
Fever
Anita, my adopted mother, got a high fever, I did my best to cure her sometimes not sleeping for days to watch over her, but to no avail. Betsy was sad, she was the only mother she had ever known, not remembering our real mother. I was sad too. John jr. and John sr. were the saddest of us all, but yet this expirience brought us closer togther. Life went on, but a piece of my heart died that day. -
Anita
My first born daughter was born on August 15th, 1874. We named her Anita after John's mother. She was beautiful, a mother's jewel and I loved her with all of my heart. Our farm was going well, we had potatoes, salad and carrots. Also, we had apples and strawberries. We still lived in the piece of land we bought when we first got here, but since John sr. was getting old, John jr. was also farming his plants. I had made many friends over the years, and they all loved Anita, my daughter. -
More death
John sr. died that day. He was old, almost sixty, and lived a long and happy life. He died three days before his fifty-seventh birthday, surrounded by his son and two adopted daughters and two granddaughters, Anita and my other newborn daughter, Elisa. -
Betsy's Birthday
It was Betsy's thirty-second birthday. She had gotten married to a very nice man names Alex and had two wonderfull twin daughters, Katherine and Betty. We celebrated her birthday inviting all of her friends, and neighboors. We had a wonderfuul time and I thought back to when we first came to America. We weren't the same scared kids that got off the boat and looked up at the Statue of Liberty with tears in our eyes. I haven't thought about the man that put me on a boat for a long time. -
The last time
I have gotten very sick last week with a fever that ended all the other horrible sickness I've ever had. I truly think that this is the last time I'll write in this timeline, for I can only keep my hand steady enough for a couple letters at a time. I'm thinking that it's time for me to move on. I've lived a long life and I'm good enough as I am. I got this fever from trying to save Anita's daughter from drowning in a lake the other day, but I don't regret my decision one second.I'm happy.
