Bridget Coffey, along with her parents and four younger children, arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick, on their journey from their ancestral home in County Galway to Boston, Massachusetts. This is a fictional reconstruction of their experiences, based on family, genealogical , and historical references.
Chapter 1: Saint John, New Brunswick, June, 1847
“An orphan asylum?” But Mr. Marshall, we can’t go into an asylum, we’re goin’ t’ Boston.”
“Miss Coffey, you are fifteen years old . . .”
“Almost sixteen . . .”.
“. . . and our laws are clear: you have no relatives or employment in this city, thus you are too young to be custodian for four children.”
“But we’re a family, a team. We can manage together. I’ve been carin’ for them all their lives.”
He sighed. “I can’t ignore the law for you, Miss. The asylum. I have no choice, you have no choice.” He pointed a finger at her.
Bridget gave up. “Right, then, we’ll go to the orphan home.”
Mr. Marshall shook his head slowly, his mouth grim. “Miss, you are not listening to me. They are going to the orphan asylum. You are too old, and are not.”
“Ye’re separatin’ us? Who will teach ‘em, comfort them when they’re sick? No one knows ‘em better than . . .”
“Miss Brown,” he yelled, “four more orphans here.”
A middle-aged woman in a plain brown dress appeared at the door. “Four more? But we’ve no room!”
“Just take ‘em, Mildred,” he shouted. “Find a place for ‘em, in a hall, in the attic, in a tree, anywhere! Next!” He turned from Bridget and addressed the next family of immigrants.
Miss Brown pulled three-year-old Katie from Bridget by force, and led the four younger children away, sniffling and crying, dragging their bags of clothes behind them. They vanished around a corner.
Bridget left the immigration office and, in spite of the hundreds of immigrants surrounding her on the dock, was alone.
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