Buchanan and Thompson

On 24 Mar 1846, William Buchanan of Binnawooda married Ann Thompson of Collow in Lower Longfield Parish, Tyrone, Ireland. I believe this is the same was West Longfield or Longfield West.

In 1847, during the height of the great famine, they set sail for Canada with William's parents Andrew and Jane, and William's siblings and their familes and one or two of Ann's siblings. After 10 days at sea, the ship was nearly destroyed in a severe storm and had to return for repairs.

On a second attempt, a plague of "immigrant fever" broke out, and several people died, including William's father Andrew and a baby daughter. After quarantine in Kingston, the family came west to Esquesing, Ontario, where the men found work in the grain harvest. The women and children spent the winter in North Easthope, where they had Irish friends, while the men trekked north into uncharted wilderness to build shanties and clear land for the families. They were pioneer settlers in an unsurveyed district of huge trees.

Later, some of the men found winter employment working in the big gold mines on the Comstock Lode of Nevada, returning to Elma, Perth County, Ontario to work on their farms during the summer. The journey from Donegal, Ontario to Gold Hill, Nevada took 11 days by train and by horseback.

It was undoubtedly a tough life, but they approached life with courage and enthusiasm.