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Beginning of my life in France
I was born in Paris, France on June 17, 1841 and my name is Abrielle Belmont. I lived there until I was 25 and I took care of my sick parents. On May 24, 1865 I married Brice Belmont and changed my last name from Clementine to Belmont. About 5 months later my mother had passed away. Then 6 months after my father passed away as well. -
Leaving for Ellis Island
After my parents’ death, we decided to change our lifestyle and move to America. My husband wanted to work as a farmer so that we would have plenty of food and other helpful resources. When we left for Ellis Island we brought 5 dresses, wedding pictures, 3 pants and 5 shirts. We also brought what we had inherited from my parents which were my grandmother’s china, 1 mink coat, 2 necklaces, and 400 dollars. -
Arrival at Ellis Island
We arrived at Ellis Island about seven weeks later. Due to our large inheritance we were in first class on our steamboat. When had finally reached Ellis Island I remember seeing the Statue of Liberty and I how excited I was to live in America for the rest of my life. I was very grateful that we didn’t have to have a medical examination because when I saw people’s eyes being checked for trachoma with a buttonhook, it made me very nausea. -
Wanting to move west
We lived in New York for about 7 months and all but a teapot and 2 plates of my grandmother’s china remained after our rough ride on the steamboat. New York was very loud, and very busy I remember, but I wanted to have a more peaceful life. When we heard that people were moving West, we thought that that was a great idea, thus making us want to move far West. -
Ready to move West
A week later we had our 2 oxen and boxes of food and barrels of water. We had heard about the good weather and large open spaces so we knew that we would be making the right choice. We were ready to head out on the Oregon Trail. -
On the Oregon Trail
Along the Oregon Trail, we thankfully weren’t attacked by Native Americans because we didn’t have any horses and they didn’t want to take our oxen. Our wagon did brake an axel once but we thankfully remembered at the last second to bring one extra axel. We first arrived in Oregon, but we quickly decided to settle in Washington because it wasn’t as populated by the Native Americans. The Homestead Act allowed us to choose any 160 acres that wasn’t already taken and we were very thankful for that. -
Crops
My husband and I were very grateful to the Native Americas. They first helped us choose a piece of land that would help us benefit our crops and where we would get plenty of rain. Then they taught us their farming techniques in exchange for 1/6 of our crops harvested. I think that they were just happy that we weren’t settling in Oregon. The weather here was also wonderful for planting crops because of all of the rain. -
Good and Bad
Over those past two years there were been many good things, but there were also some bad things as well. We had a baby girl on September 6, 1869 named Eve. My husband Brice struggled with planting crops in the first year of our life in Washington. We realized we needed to perfect our farming skills since we just had a child. -
The Missionaries
The missionaries were trying to force their religion of Christianity onto my family and everyone around us. They were even taking some settlers hostage, and I was very nervous that we would be taken too. But because we hid for a while this problem was going on we didn’t get taken into hostage. -
The flu
Because the missionaries were bringing many different diseases into the West, many people were getting sick and dying. All of our neighbors were getting the flu, which had made it very hard to not get the flu. Sadly, I got the flu but I was recovered with extensive care by many doctors and nurses. -
The rest of my life
The rest of my life was pretty simple I had a baby boy named Andre, and the rest of crops turned out very good and healthy.
