In the spring of 1848 Jeffrey O'Connor decided to depart from Ireland and leave the terrible, depressing memories of his late wife behind. His wife, who he had married in June of 1847, died of Cholera that winter. Jeffery's parents had died long before the famine and all his other relatives were most likely to ill to leave Ireland or had already died. As a result, Jeffery decided to escape the sickness and poverty that had become Ireland.

He decided it would be best to leave with is life long friend Sean O'Reilly to America. They chose America because while it was more expensive to go there, it was said that there were many job opportunities there and perhaps Jeffery might find a relative there who had also escaped Ireland. Sean, unlike Jeffery, had a little bit of money and had several pairs of clothes. His family had been very...