Friday, February 22, 2013

Richard Litson Jr. Emigration Account, Part 3 of 7

Immigrants at Castle Garden [now Castle Clinton], 1866. From Wikipedia.

Glade Family Line

Wednesday, May 30 [1866] — A very damp and nasty morning but we must be satisfied for it is His will. It causes our hearts to feel grateful. One boat on our right and three on our left.

Thursday, May 31 — This appears to be a fine morning, but windy. We saw fishing boats on our right hand side. The night was a little rough.

Friday, June 1 — A very fine morning. There is a little wind behind us but it don't push us onward much. But it is a beautiful day and the sea is calm and smooth. We were all called on deck to smoke out the deck below. It is very warm all around on deck.

Saturday, June 2 — A very fine morning and a glittering, pleasant, smooth sea. We see four ships, one of them is like this and the other is something like (the) first, the first ship is not to be seen too plain now. Dinner time and we cannot see the lower one at all, and the one by the first is like the first and the upper one is to be seen very much plainer, and there were two the other side about an hour ago. These ships were out of sight in the night. We had a quiet night.

Sunday, June 3 — It is a very foggy morning. We see a steamer on our left hand side, upper end, and a ship on our right hand, lower end. It was a smooth, glittering sea all day. In the afternoon at 4 o'clock the pilot boat No. 14 Edward Williams (appeared). We were going very fast now then that (faster than at any) time. We had a quiet night.

Monday, June 4 — A very foggy morning again. We are going pretty well this morning, 'tis a calm, level sea. This Pilot Boat No. 14, Edward Williams, passed by us again on the right side of us about middle day. I t was foggy all day, but it was a quiet night. It is a rough sea.

Tuesday, June 5 — It is a fine morning. It is not foggy now. We saw 8 ships, one after another, on our left hand. It turned off to be very foggy about half past 10. We saw Pilot No. 4 behind us. We have sailed very steady for this week. It is a smoother sea again. The steamer Charles Chamberlain is come to take us into the harbor. There are 5 boats altogether. The steamboat Christiana was at our right hand. It is gone (going) to another ship and the other boat is gone (going) the same direction and a red one, Sandy Hood. All those 4 are gone (going) to the right of us. We saw a pilot boat. It went right across us. Behind it is No. 1. It had a little boat behind it, fastened to it, and went all around. We see many ships (of) several kinds and many beautiful scenes: Northfield, Middletown, Thomas, Hunt, Meta, Matteawan, Red Jacket, Jessie Hoyt, S. S. Wyckoff, Metis, Kill Von Hull, Thomas P. Way, Pomona, Central, America, Helen, Porthfield, Atlas, Newport, Commodore, City of New York, Stevens, Henry Smith, Transport, Communipaw, City of Troy, William Harrison, P. C. Schultz, Port Royal, New York, Bordentown, City of Providence, Richard Stockton, D. R. Martin, City of America. The Castle Garden Emigration Landing Depot is on our right and the Central Railroad of New Jersey is on our left. There are a great many ships all around. It is a quiet night.

Wednesday, June 6 — It is a little foggy this morning. We are having a fair day. We are here in the ship yet. There arose a storm about 6 o'clock. It became a rough wind all at once and it rained a little but it did not last.

Thursday, June 7 — It is a very fine morning but it is windy. We are here in the ship yet. We got off the ship at half past twelve. We went in the boat Ontario and the tug Peter Cary pulled us to the Castle Garden Emigration Landing Depot. We arrived there at 2 minutes past 1 o'clock. The first death that we have witnessed was Sarah Evans, wife of John Evans. She died in Castle Garden Landing Depot. We started from here at half past 9 o'clock and arrived in a beautiful steamer at 15 to eleven. We traveled in the steamer on that night and in the morning we got out, it being June 8.

Friday, June 8 — We had a walk. We started at half past 7 o'clock. We had a short distance of 30 yards to go and we went and arrived there, and we took the cars. The carriages in this country are very large to what they were in Wales and they are beautiful carriages and the seats are very comfortable and the train is going very fast. We saw many sceneries in traveling by and many lively looking trees and meadows and many little things we never saw before. This train contains 20 carriages, besides others that the Saints are not in. The engines here are different and have different names. Their names are as follows — they will be seen here and there thru the account—: Neptune, Northampton, Whittemote, Deerfield. We saw some stations. They were named South Deerfield, 28 miles from Springfield. We saw a station named South Vernon and engine Gardner Charlotte Champlain. We saw Station Charlestown. We came to Charlestown engines St. John Middleson.

To be continued...

Book of Account of Voyage and Training and Overland Travels (Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5—Part 6Part 7)

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