The culmination of events leading to the New World

The voyage to destiny

A long time a go in a land far far away....there was a young girl named Charlotte Higginson. Through no fault of her own, after her birth circa 1870 in a small village named Salford, she found herself orphaned and all alone. As you might guess, she soon became a resident guess of the local workhouse. As this young girl grew to become a young woman, her days filled with cotton spinning, her nights filled with dreams. In an effort to feel the excitement of her dreams, she connects with a local inmate that ends in her pregnancy. Shortly less then a year later Amelia is born. With no hope for her child's future in clear site, she sends her off to live and work with local families.

The happy new home

During this time circa 1882 in a land even further away is a growing young man with ambitions and dreams of his own. He hopes the luck of the Irish is going to make his future bright, but he just doesn't trust everything he hears. So he packs up and heads to the promise of work and opportunity in the mainland of England. Here in that same little town of Salford, he goes to the local workhouse religiously to make ends meet. One day his eyes fall upon a beautiful young lady coming to the workhouse to visit her mother. Amelia spotted James Joseph Dillon's advancing eyes and the rest, as they say, is HISTORY.

"Michael Davitt, Irish village from London Olympia exhibition, Edward Hogan, Irish piper." Catalogue Reference: (PRO) COPY 1/393

They fall deeply in love and get married in the local Church. One day while standing in line hoping for a days work and breathing the thick air, he dreams of a place where his hard work would provide a spacious home for his new bride and their future family. Two children later, James hears that his sister back home in Galway, Ireland has married an American and they moved to the new world. Then it hit him! He rushes home and tells Amelia to wait for him while he travels to see if there is a better chance for them somewhere else. He heads to the docks and finds his way to the steam ship 'Arabic' and is on his way to visit his sister in Englewood, New Jersey in 1910. He quickly finds steady work and sends for his family a few months later. They live the rest of their lives in this little town with a sprawling home and added 12 more children to their family. The result of "Following Your Dreams". If anyone should know where these two young kids come from please email lgeleng@gelengfamily.com. http://www.gelengfamily.com/Genealogy/ghtout/index.htm