[00:00.00]Eventually, the winds lessened
[00:03.28]and the Captain was able to
[00:04.81]set his sights towards America
[00:06.46]and become ably steering the ship
[00:09.41]on an even course.
[00:11.27]Eight weeks later, plus one day,
[00:14.33]the Hannah made landfall
[00:16.19]and the Love family disembarked
[00:18.38]in America and became
[00:19.69]American newest immigrants.
[00:22.54]Gazing at the mainland
[00:24.84]after so many days of sailing
[00:26.91]was indeed a glorious sight.
[00:29.65]The difficult days aboard ship
[00:32.60]seemed worthwhile. Porters hurried
[00:36.32]along the docks pushing baggage.
[00:38.29]Little girls with ribbons
[00:40.26]in their hair scanned the ship’s decks
[00:42.45]hoping to get a first glimpse
[00:44.74]of their father arriving.
[00:46.60]It seemed to Lily that
[00:49.01]it took forever to register
[00:50.77]and to pass through immigration.
[00:52.73]John said that he would
[00:56.01]go ahead to scout out some land
[00:57.44]in the far west of the state.
[00:59.63]He would push on to the frontier
[01:02.47]with a bunch of other Irish chaps.
[01:04.55]Lily and the children
[01:07.07]could follow more slowly,
[01:09.04]harnessing the horse and cart
[01:10.67]to convey their scanty possessions.
[01:13.08]The stuff in the cart
[01:15.27]would include a kettle,
[01:16.69]dishes, blankets, a chair,
[01:19.43]a bucket and an axe.
[01:22.18]There was a perception
[01:25.47]by the government
[01:26.45]at this time that
[01:27.77][the feisty Irish would
[01:29.41]resist any hostile natives
[01:31.27]refusing to retreat and thus
[01:33.56]maintaining the western boundary.
[01:36.30]The Irish, too, were pleased
[01:39.03]to settle as far away
[01:40.79]from the government as possible.
[01:42.87]Instead of purchasing land,
[01:45.05]they would “squat” on the property
[01:48.52]erecting only a temporary,
[01:49.95]humble shelter to stave off the weather.
[01:53.01]Once their families arrived,
[01:55.85]they would inspire the men
[01:58.04]to build proper cabins.
[01:59.79]Neither fancy nor elegant,
[02:02.31]these log structures would
[02:04.82]be their first real homes.
[02:07.01]Property boundaries at this time
[02:09.86]were not marked out
[02:11.27]with iron rods or stakes
[02:13.25]in a standard fashion,
[02:14.56]but rather designated
[02:16.09] by natural objects such as
[02:18.17]rocks, trees and creeks.
[02:21.01]Confusion and disputes must often
[02:24.74]have followed later,
[02:26.05]when these survey points disappeared.
[02:28.67]After exploring the area around Shirleysburg,
[02:33.81]John and his sons rode
[02:36.00]over Sandy Ridge to survey
[02:37.75]the property below Black Log Mountain.
[02:40.27]It was here in a long narrow valley
[02:43.88]they decided to settle.
[02:46.07]The valley became known then,
[02:48.47]and is still called Love’s Valley today |