St. Paul
By Sarah Costello

We landed in St. Paul on a beautiful morning in June 1888. As stated before, it was a lovely and beautiful trip.

Upon docking, Father found a drayman with a dilapidated old wagon to take our household equipment to our new home. We were going to live on Pleasant Avenue, an old but very nice street.

We had been met at the boat landing by Mary and Bridget. Mary had been in St. Paul about a year, learning the dressmaking trade. Mary was dressed in all the styles of that day, but much too old for her fifteen tender years. She wanted to look grown up.

Father rode with the driver of our luggage. Cole, Jim, and I were distributed among the household belongings. Jim was placed down carefully on a pillow in the wash boiler. I sat beside him on some quilts. Cole was comfortably seated on some blankets, guarding the household equipment. Mother carried Michael, but preferred to walk up the street with the girls.

That day, of course, the day of the horse and buggy, and of the wealthy with their carriages and coachmen, a thing to be remembered. People of wealth were classed as "The Carriage Trade,” by the department stores. Carriages were very classy and fine, being drawn by well-groomed horses that were decked in silver mounted harnesses. Many of the passengers were met by these fine carriages driven by coachmen. These people passed us as we proceeded up the street. Mary was terribly embarrassed by the sight we made riding up the street among all the fine carriages. To make matters worse, we kept waving at her and calling to her by name. She made no response. Never the less, she was very glad to see us.

We were a happy reunited family again. Bridget had found a place for us to live, a nice place. A few months later, we found a more suitable place with a large yard near Irving Park. Then, in the spring, we moved to the old Mitchell House near the outskirts of the city. This place had fallen to disrepair due to the neglect of its absent heirs. Father soon got the place in fine shape, clipped the hedges, and restored the old stonewall. It was on a hillside overlooking the city. There were no other houses for several blocks on either side of us, nor in back of us.

A pair of peacocks had been left by a former tenant, which added to the attractiveness of the place. We kept a cow, some chickens, and a spacious garden. All made for a comfortable and lovely home.

The full length of the porch was made good use of in the summer. It afforded a fine view of the city, the west side bluffs, and the high ridges. We had lots of company to enjoy these sights with us. There were people coming from Wisconsin, Ireland and nearby. Some of these were relatives, some just friends.

In those days, before telephone, automobiles, radio or television, people were more neighborly than today. We enjoyed living in the old place very much. It was here that Mary was married, in 1894 to a young man just over from Ireland, James O'Brien.