THE DIARY OF JAMES HALLIDAY, GARRYDUFF, BALLYMONEY, CO, ANTRIM
PAGE 1 WHAT WILL YOU DO LOVE What will you do love When am I going With the white sails flying And seas beyond What will you do love When seas divide us And friend will chide us For being fond Through waves dividing And friends be chiding Faith abiding Ill still be True And I pray for you on the stormy ocean With deep devotion that Is what Ill do PAGE 2 ( 2) If I was spared Id Bless tomorrow And want and sorrow That left me you And Id welcome thee from The wasting billow My heart thy pillow thats What Id do What would you do love When home returning With hopes high burning And wealth for you Aha the Barque thats Bound oer the foreign foam Should be lost near home What would you do PAGE 3 What would you do love If distant tidings Thy fond confidings Would undermind And I abiding neath Sultry shield Would think other eyes As bright as thine Oh name it not though Guilt and shame Were on your name Id still be true And Ill pray for you On the stormy ocean With deep devotion thats What Ill do PAGE 3/4 We left Ballymoney about 8:15 and was in Derry about 10:20. The agent was at the station waiting for us and took us to the office. We had to travel about a mile. We paid 4 apiece for getting our boxes taken. Hugh had to pay a 20 for getting his trunks drew. When we got our tickets marked we were to be at the tender at 11:00. It was 11:30 before we got started. It took us about 3 hours to go out. PAGE 5/6 The steamer started about 3 p.m. We dont see much of the coast. It was too rough on deck and the smell of the steerage made us sick. We got our dinner shortly after we got on of potatoes, pea soup and fish. We ate some of the potatoes, but the peas soup made us throw off. We all took sick then and was sick till Sunday. We got some tea of our own on Sunday which made us feel a good deal better. There was a heavy swell of Friday & Saturday but Sunday was a fine day. On Monday night I was going out for a drink when the man below me in the berth asked me if I would PAGE 7/8 bring him one. I said I would. I brought in another for myself to drink at night and set it at the corner of the bunk over his head in the middle of the night I heard him cursing and swearing was I pishing down on him there when I looked the half of the mug of water was spilt on his face with the rolling of the boat. It was rough on Tuesday we dont taste the ships meat that day either. Wednesday was a bit calmer. We were able to take in the evening some tea and corned beef and bread. That was the first night there was any dancing. The sailors danced the waltzes, highlands and Gigs to a melodeon. PAGE 9/10 On Thursday there was Irish Stew to breakfast. Hugh and me took ours up on deck and ate it. We were able to take all the meals that day. At night there was plenty of dancing. It had been stormy all day with some snow and hail showers but we got down along the galles [gales?]and we were all right Friday was a good day compared to Thursday but it was rough enough to. We had good appetites that day and could nearly ate a man off his horse. It got rough towards the evening. I threw some off going to bed. Saturday was a rough day. I was a little sick and threw off some more PAGE 11/12 But I wasnt alone at it-there was plenty throwing off besides me. Robert played on the flagelot that evening to the sailors dancing. One of the engineers said it was the nicest music ever he heard. Sunday was a very fine day-they put up the sails in the morning but about the middle of the day they had to take them down for the wind turned dead ahead it calmed down in the evening. There was hardly a ripple. The sea was like a bottle. Monday was a wet day and very misty. They were blowing the horn every few minutes. We expected to be in sight on land about 2 p.m. but the fog was PAGE 13/14 That thick she couldnt make good time. The pilot came on about 3 o clock p.m. We had to anchor 3 times before we got in. The first land we seen was Sandy Hook-it didnt look very nice at first. It was very low looking but we soon changed our minds about it. The point is very low but after we got round it there was some nice scenery. It is a very nice sail up the harbour into the deck. Nice villas and private houses with trees growing round them. There are plenty of forts with the cannon sticking out of them. There is a good deal of traffic- ferryboats, steamer tugs, steamers PAGE 15/16 Schooners, sailboats and every kind of ship you would name. It is a very busy looking place. The ferry boats crowded with men and teams and the tugs towing barges. The doctor came on before we got in and we had to show him our certificate which we got from the steward the day before. It took us a good while to get in. It was nearly dark before we got in. Nearly the first one we seen was James. He spoke to us and told us he wouild [would?] be down about ten in the morning. None but cabin passengers got off that night. We got off about ten in the morning. James was waiting there for us PAGE 17/18 but we had to go to Ellis island in the tender and was kept separate with ropes running across the schooner according to the number of our card. It was a good while before we got through the island. The [they?] had that many questions to ask-how much money we had, where we were going ,, If we had any friends or if we were ever in America before and a lot more questions. I didnt see what was there( their) ends for asking. Them that didnt know where the were going was put into place and kept there till somebody came for them. James came shortly after we PAGE 19/20 Came out and we took the ferry across to B.lyn [Brooklyn?]. We saw the statue of liberty as we were going along. It is great monument. The shape of a man standing on a pedestal with a dagger held above his head. When we got over we landed on New York side of the river then took the Elevated Railroad across the bridge to Brooklyn. Then took a street car home to his uncles Mr. Howe. Mrs Howe give us a hearty welcome. We got dinner then went out & took a room in 108 Hall St - off Myrtle Avenue. Then James took us to his uncles were we got tea. Then we went to our room PAGE 21/22 The next morning we got our breakfast at a restaurant where we had paid 20c [cents?]. Then we walked round til [till?] lunchtime when we lunched with Mrs Howe. She was very kind to us. We went down to Mrs Howes in the evening and got supper. On Thursday we had a great day walking around. It is a fine city Blyn [Brooklyn?], lots of traffice [traffic?], elevated cars and trolleys cars. The way the talk is stranger to us than anything we see. Andrew Kennedy was qqaroiund that night but we didnt see him. We went round to Mrs Howe after lunch. She is a very kind lady. She has two nice little girls, May and Annie. Friday was a very wet day. We could hardly PAGE 23/24 Stir out of doors. Saturday we went around looking for a job and got one out near Richmond from a farmer that lived out near Mineola. The Sunday we were invited to dine with Mr and Mrs Howe. We went to church for the first day in America it is like a concert than [reaching [preaching?] the sermon was about 10 minutes and like a lecture there was a piece of music sung when the collection was taking up. James took me to see Aunt Barbra that evening she is like the Knoxes as she can be. Robert Carton was along. I wrote to her to come over. She came that day we were out walking and misssed [missed?]her so we went over to see her. I forgot to say at the first that Robert Carton and me was rooming together we pay PAGES 25/26 $2 for our room per week. We get our meals out at a restaurant. We gave it up on Monday morning and was out at James Kellys ( which is the name of the man we got the job from, by 11.30. When we got here he was ploughing out in the lot. He had one plough and his brother Dick was ploughing with the other. He gave us a the plough when we went into the lot. I got his Robt [Robert?] got Dicks. They were a bit awkward at first but we soon got into the way of them. The ploughs are only about 60lbs weight. We got our dinner about 12 oclock. We ploughed from that until night 6:30. We planted potatoes the next day. It is hardly the same as it is at home, they open the the drilols [drills?] with a thing they call the maker 3 rows at a time. PAGES 27/28 It is made of wood with a shaft as it to go between the horses, 3 upright boards about 6 in.[inches?]deep and about 2 feet long, sharp, at the point about 6 in.[inches?] Wide at the end. They can put the thing apart so as to make it wider between the rows if they like. They make the rows about 2ft 9in.[inches?]and 2 feet 6 in[inches?] apart. Then they sow the manure or what they call fertilizer with a machine, neatly like a turnip burrow only with there are 3 wheels on it. The one on the front runs in the row. The other 2 on a drill at each side it holds about 80lbs and a thing like the foot of a grabber to mix it with the ground. Then they drop the potatoes the same as they do in Ireland, PAGES 29/30 Only they stand straight which make it a good deal easier on the back. Then they close them with a plough about 36 lbs weight. The point runs nearly straight into the Ground or it wouldnt stay long in it. 5 of us planted about 6 acres. They are 2 men and a boy and 5 girls and their mother. They are nice people. We get plenty to eat and the work is much the same as at home. We rise at 5:30 and stop work at 6:30. Robert and me lies together. We get our breakfast at 6, our dinner at 12 and our supper about 7. We went into B lyn [Brooklyn?] the first Sunday after we came which was Easter Sunday. It is a market Farm. He goes to NY [New York?] market on Tuesday and Friday. PAGE 30/31 Starts the day before and comes home the day after. The second Sunday we were here we took a walk down the length of Roslyn about 4 miles and we went up to the top of a hill among the woods-the first woods we were in, in America. Transcribed by PaulaTraceyClose