A True Picture of Emigration

by Rebecca Burlend, Edward Burlend, Milo Milton Quaife (Editor)

On a frosty day in November 1831, Rebecca Burlend and her husband, John, and their five children debarked at New Orleans after a long voyage from England. They took a steamboat up the Mississippi to St. Louis and from there went to the wilds of western Illinois. It was a whole new world for a family that had never been more than fifty miles from home in rural Yorkshire. Rebecca’s narrative, written with the help of her son, was first published in 1848 as a pamphlet for people of her own class in England who might be considering migration to America. It records the daily struggle and also the satisfactions of homesteading in the Old Northwest: life in a log cabin; food, clothes, and furniture of the period; early churches and schools; the unspoiled countryside and its denizens. With courage and self-reliance Rebecca Burlend accepted the privations and difficulties of this pioneering venture.

Genres: American History, History, Nonfiction, British Literature

167 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1848

Reviews

[Teri L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring autobiography of a common British family’s struggle to create a viable farming life in rural Illinois in the mid-1800’s. Unlike those written by men, this book provides clear insights on how a family lived off the land and slowly prospered - how they stayed warm and ate in the winter, how they kept their farm animals alive, how they stayed optimistic and overcame hardship. Americans in her view even then focused more on liberty than education.

[MacQuaid Hiller]

Written in 1848 by a British woman who emigrated to Illinois, this book seeks to educate a British audience on the challenges and benefits of moving to the US. It's a terribly incomplete picture of the history of the region (she literally does not mention Native peoples except once, in passing), but it's not an awful look at what pioneer life would have looked like. It's mercifully short and not an awful read, but probably not interesting to most people.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great educational and interesting audio. It really gave me Little House on the Prairie vibes. I'd recommend it for 8+ kids and any teenager or adult.

[Tom Wilda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebecca and John Burlend left England with four children in 1831, traveled across the Atlantic to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi to settle in Illinois. This book is based on letters Rebecca sent to her son who remained in England. He edited the letters and published it in England.

A True Picture of Emigration offers a glimpse of what it took to acquire land and the implements to "improve" it; how difficult the first years were; how the family slowly improved their lot. I found it very interesting.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I certainly may be biased because this book was written by my great *? grandmother, but I found it a fascinating read; quite witty at times in unexpected ways, and full of details about every day life in a hard time.

[Patrick\ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another First Person account on my American History shelf. A very good read.