Maggie Comes to America

By Barry Guinagh

Chapter 1

The year was 1848 and the potato famine was driving the Irish to America. Uncle Eddie, who had a reputation for being a drunkard, arrived at his sister Peggys home ready to go to Boston on a ship leaving in two days. He wanted to take Peggys family. In Boston they would stay with their sister Catherine who ran a boarding house for men. Peggy had two girls in the family, Maggie and Fanny. Maggie, age fifteen, was older and stronger than Fanny who was eleven. Peggy told Eddie that she only had money for one to go, and she would tell him her decision when he arrived in the morning.


Chapter 2

Uncle Eddie arrived as the sun was coming up. Peggy chose Maggie to travel to America and gave Maggie money for the trip. She took Maggie aside and warned her to be wary of her uncle. Peggy was suspicious, but the family was starving and she believed she had no other choice. At least one of them would survive. Maggie and Eddie headed off in their cart on the forty-mile trip to Limerick. On the trip Eddie admitted that he did not have enough money to travel, but said he would get the money he needed by selling his horse and cart when they arrived at the ship. When they reached the ship, Uncle Eddie sold the horse and cart, but for less than he had hoped. A man approached Eddie and offered to sell him tickets for two-thirds their face value. Eddie bought the tickets, but then saw the man selling tickets to another traveler and he realized he had bought worthless tickets.


Chapter 3

Eddie told the other traveler that the tickets were worthless and the two men chased the con man, wrestled him down, and took their money plus some money they found in the con mans pockets. Eddie returned to Maggie and asked a sailor if they could stay overnight on the ship on which they were to sail on in the morning, but he was told no. They slept on the floor a boarding house. The next morning they boarded the ship, the Rebecca, and found their bunks, which were more like shelves. The Captain called the roll. Eddie and Maggie were disguised as father and daughter so that Maggie could get half fare. The following morning the ship moved down the Shannon River toward the Atlantic Ocean. As the sails filled, the Rebecca started to pitch and roll. Passengers were both homesick and seasick. During the voyage Maggie met two girls, twelve and thirteen, and the three became good friends. They spied on a young sailor, Roger, and Maggie even talked to him.


Chapter 4 Maggie had her first menstrual period during the voyage. She received help from the mothers of her two friends who referred to her menstrual period as the curse. The two mothers got permission from the Captain to give Maggie a sponge bath on the dock. Maggie appreciated the help, but still did not understand what was happening.


Chapter 5

The Rebecca ran into a storm. Soon the water was calf level on the passengers. The passengers were terrified. An elderly man had recently died and his body was bashing about in the storm. Sailors came below deck to operate a pump. One of the sailors that worked the pump was Roger. Maggie was excited to have another brief conversation with him. After six hours the storm subsided, the sails were up again, and the Rebecca began to make good time.


Chapter 6

After 57 days the shore of America was visible. The ship was north of Boston, so it had to sail south for two days. As they disembarked Maggie said goodbye to Honor and Hanna, but did not have the nerve to say goodbye to Roger. All the passengers had physical exams and Maggie feared that if she failed the exam, she would have to return to Ireland. However both she and Eddie passed. Eddies sister, Catherine, was not there to meet them because their arrival time could not be predicted. They asked a policeman for directions. They followed the direction a

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 18, 2009
• ISBN: 9781465318633

Barry Guinagh

Barry Guinagh grew up in an academic family of Irish-Catholic heritage in Charleston, Illinois. His academic pursuits led to a PhD in Educational Psychology from Michigan State University. Based on research with two-year-old children at the University of Florida, he and others wrote Child Learning Through Child Play: Learning Activities for Two- and Three-Year Olds. He also authored Catharsis and Cognition in Psychotherapy. He served as a faculty member at the University of Florida for thirty-two years. In retirement he spends time with his family, traveling, and practicing the bass guitar.

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Copyright © 2009 by Barry Guinagh.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

Dedicated to my father Kevin J. Guinagh,

a writer and storyteller

CHAPTER 1

Eddie stood at the door of Peggy’s sod hut. He was a skinny man wearing suspenders and baggy clothes. But then everybody was skinny in Athea, Ireland in 1848. Two years ago the potato blight struck. Now the potato crop had failed again. Tomorrow is the big day, Eddie said, I’m off to America. Will you and your girls be goin’ with me? Peggy, we talked about this. Do you have enough money for the trip for you and the girls, sister of mine?

Peggy had a discouraged expression. She was starving, as she was giving the food she received from the Church to her two daughters. She was helpless in the face of the famine. Last year, two of her small children, ages two and four, had died from the famine. Her husband had gone to England a year ago looking for work and she had not heard from him since he left. Her family now consisted of eleven-year-old Fanny and fourteen-year-old Maggie. Despite Peggy’s sacrifice for her daughters, all three were emaciated and in the process of starving. There seemed to be no hope—no escape—except to leave Ireland for America. Occasionally some went to Australia, but that was a long trip and Eddie had said earlier he wasn’t interested.

The girls hair was straight and dirty. Both had beautiful eyes that could not be touched by the famine. Fanny played with a stick digging at the dirt that was below the straw that covered the floor, but Maggie’s full attention was to the discussion.

Peggy was suspicious of Eddie. Eddie was Peggy’s big brother and the two were not close. Eddie had a problem with alcohol, which began as early as age fourteen. When Peggy was fifteen, Eddie became drunk and wanted to fool around with Peggy. Luckily, Peggy’s mother came to her rescue. The relationship became safer for Peggy as she got older, but she did not trust him with the two girls. Eddie never married, but like so many of his friends, became married to the bottle.

Fanny knew that her mother would choose Maggie to go to America. Her mother had talked about going to America on several occasions and had clearly hinted that only Maggie would be able to go to America. Peggy didn’t have enough money for the three of them to make the trip. Maggie was aware that perhaps her life depended on leaving Ireland. She felt guilty about being the only one in her family going to America, but eased her guilt by believing that she could get to America, make money, and send the money to her mother and Fanny for their trip to America.

Where will you stay in Boston? Peggy asked Eddie. You’ve got to have a place to stay. You just can’t build a sod hut.

We can stay with our sister Catherine in Boston. I’m sure she’ll take us in. She’ll take us in until I get a job and a place to stay on our own. I’ll take care of all of you on the trip over. I believe we can get Maggie and Fanny for half-fare. The ship awaits us. You need to pack. I’m excited about going.

Peggy sat there staring at the floor. It seemed too difficult to contemplate making a trip to the unknown land of America—even if it meant escaping starvation. Eddie, I’ve saved only enough money for one of us to go, and that will have to be Maggie. Maggie is older and stronger, so she will go to America. Maggie, your uncle often has crazy ideas and ends up wasting his money on evil liquor, but he is right about getting out of Ireland. There is nothing here for our family. You need to go to America, make some money, send it to us, and we will follow you. I think that staying with Catherine is a good idea. I don’t know where Boston is, but I am sure that if you can get across the ocean, you can find Catherine in Boston. What do you think Maggie? How do you feel about an adventure to America? It won’t be easy.

Maggie sat there and shrugged her shoulders. I know lots of people who have gone to America. It must be a rich country. Nobody comes back to Ireland. But Momma, what should I pack?

You don’t have much. You have two dresses, two petticoats, and a pair of shoes. And you need to take a blanket.

"I don’t like to wear shoes. Why do I have to wear shoes?’

Eddie smiled, You may need the shoes. You need to bring them along.

By the way, Eddie, Peggy said,