Mrs. Murphy's Story
By Sarah Costello

My mother, recalls Mrs. Murphy, was about four years old when the famine struck. When all of her family except herself, had died, her aunt Mary came to take her. Her Aunt Mary was only fifteen years old at the time. She was the sole survivor of her own family. Mary, who went some way with the little girl, made her way to the seashore. Mary and her little niece were picked up by a ship going to New York. Kindly captains of ships and some relief ships would at times help the famine stricken people to get to the new country, as this captain did for Mary and her niece. They had no relatives in New York and no place to go. Kind people tried to help and finally Aunt Mary was taken in to work for a family for board and room. She was allowed to keep her niece with her. In the course of time, the niece married. Her husband became a prosperous merchant in a town near St. Paul.