My name is Mary Murphy and I live in County Cork, Ireland, I am 15 years old. I live in a small cottage with my mother and father and 6 brothers and 2 sisters. My father is a farmer however, we are very poor. In a few days I will be leaving to go to America to live with my Aunt Kate. She is a maid and works for a rich family. I hope to be a maid too when I get there. Before I am allowed on board the ship the Teutonic which I must go to a hotel were I can be checked for germs.

August 25 1892
I arrived at the hotel which is located near the ship. We are first give a tag to put on our clothes and then we are sprayed with an awful smelling spray. I think they call this deicing. It makes sure that we are free of any bugs. Then we are told to go into a cold and dark hotel room for 36 hours. I was lucky, there is a nice lady in my room and she gave me something to drink and a little piece of bread. We went to sleep and when we woke up I was checked again for bugs and then I was allowed to leave for America.

August 26, 1892
Today is the day that I finally leave for America. There are a lot to people pushing and shoving and trying to get onboard, the name of our ship is the Teutonic. That nice woman that gave me bread and water is holding my hand as I board the ship. Since we are poor we will be traveling in the steerage part of the ship. We enter this area and already it smells, however I just keep thinking about how wonderful it will be when we reach America. People just keep coming. After several hours of boarding this part of the ship is crammed with people. Finally we shove off from Liverpool& Queenstown on our way to America.

August 27, 1892
Today is my third day aboard this ship. The smell is horrible. Some people got sick last evening because our ship ran into a storm. Our clothes are damp and smelly because we have to sleep in our clothes. There is also very little food on board and I am so hungry.

August 28, 1892
I have been on the ship for 10 days and some people are really sick, however I have not been sick. Most of the people around me are from Ireland. To pass the time we sing Irish songs and dance. At night a nice man tells us stories from long ago. It’s hard to talk to the other people because they do not speak English. Some of these people are from Italy, Poland and Germany.

September 1, 1892
I woke up this morning and the sun was shining so bright. I heard everybody talking about landing in America today. I guess it’s true because I can see land for the first time in 14 days. I see an enormous woman standing with a torch in her hand. The ship is headed in that direction and I can hear the captain of the ship blowing his fog horn. The captain also calls over the loudspeaker that we are ready to dock in a few hours.
Once the ship stops, it takes us three hours to get off the ship. Once I am off the ship we are told we need to pass a few tests. click here to see chart. I can’t believe that I have to take another test to get into America. We all line up and a doctor comes by and checks our eyes and hair and listens to our lungs. A woman in front of me is limping so, the nurse puts a big L on her clothing with a piece of chalk. She can not move on to the next step. They take her away to another room. Next, I need to take the mental test. I am asked to put a puzzle together. I love puzzles, so I do a good job. Next is the legal test. They ask me my name, do I have any relative, or have I ever done any wrong. I answer the entire question correctly. Although, I was free to leave I had to wait for my Aunt to pick me up. Any woman or child has to have a telegraph letter or someone already in the United States pick them up. I finally made it and now I am in America!!!!