"Searching For Green Roots" ~ History of the Beacoms

Quoting from a 1967 booklet, "Through the Years in West Nissouri 1818 to 1967" by Ida Logan of Thorndale, ON. about the crossing from Ireland to the new world.

"For the early immigrants, the six-week Atlantic crossing was quite a hardship.  They sailed in cargo vessels which carried squared timber back to Britain.  The ship's captain put in a few temporary partitions and bunks, and jammed in hundreds of passengers, who had to look after their own needs on the long voyage.
They supplied their own bedding, dishes, food, except bread and water which the captain provided.  The cooking was done over fireplaces where much pushing and shoving occurred over turns to cook porridge, salt pork, or potatoes.  The same confusion reigned over wash basins and corners for fresh air as the quarrels raged between peopled housed in such cramped quarters.  Colds and other diseases spread rapidly among the passengers.  It was not unusual to have 40 - 50 funerals in one crossing."

~ Lulu M. Carson & M. Phyllis Thompson,
Abco Copy Cat Limited, London, ON, 1989.