Seven Generations

Native American Indians have a belief that "when you sit in council for the welfare of the people, you must not think of yourself or of your family, not even of your generation. He said, make your decisions on behalf of the seven generations coming, so that they may enjoy what you have today." (1) 

Seven generations ago my great-great-great-great-grandparents left Ireland to start new lives in North America. They took different boats, entered different ports but they all managed to survive the sailing voyage across the Atlantic in the 1800s. Some left Ireland prior to the Potato Famine in the late 19840s, some left during and afterwards.  But they all left. They had little choice. They all decided to make a new start in the New World to the west. 

The family who's voyage was most documented was my maternal-great-great-great-great-grandfather Richard Power. He was a strong willed man with three daughters living in the countryside north of Cork. He was an independent farmer, which was not that common because the English had confiscated most of the land from the native Irish by the early 1800s. 

hey sailed on the ship called the Brunswick,  a "West Indiaman" sailing ship , designed to survive the rough north Atlantic storms as it sailed back and forth from Europe to the Americas. 

(1) Above quote from: Ely Parker 1844-1865 Seven Generations - the Role of Chief Oren Lyons (Seneca) Faithkeeper, Onondaga Nation https://www.pbs.org/warrior/content/timeline/opendoor/roleOfChief.html

In 1763 the English took over control of Canada from the French in the Treaty of Paris. As a result the  English now had a French speaking colony. They needed English speakers to populate the vast frontier lands west of the French speaking province of Quebec. At the same time the English had a continual problems with the native Irish resisting British rule. It was a win -win solution. The English would pay for the passage and initial financing of the Irish to settle the forests of Canada. Richard Power, with his wife and three daughters signed up for the scheme. His request for settlement was gladly accepted by the local English lord who looked forward to rid his lands of the local ringleaders of the Irish resistance.