Some migrants left the Old World in search of a different climate that they believed would help improve their health, but diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever could strike in the New World too.
Historical
HEALTHY LAND, HEALTHY PEOPLEA letter written from William Porter from Chicago, U.S.A. to his Parents in Co.Down
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Thanks be to the giver of all good for his mercies to me – a poor unworthy creature – I never enjoyed as good health since I was born as I am doing for the present. Although this gets the name of not being a healthy place, I had no reason to complain since I came here. […] I do think that this is the place that you all should be if possible, for, the longer that I am here, I like it the better and so would you all. If you were here we have one of the pleasantest summers you could wish – neither so warm nor so dry as it was last summer but just like what it would be in Ireland. […] I intend to make this country my abiding place whilst in this world – not but my heart wanders back to my native soil with all the ties of friendships there which I never can have here but then there is a great many things here would endear one to this country. […] I would like to know what kind of crops you expect to have this [year] or whether the potatoes has failed or not. I would wish to know how the children is and how they are getting on at school.
Modern
GOOD CONDITIONSAn interview with ‘Jovita Torres’ and ‘Manuela Medeiros’, two Portuguese girls
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Interviewer: How did your family come to be here?
Jovita: Well my aunties already lived here, so like a year like well Christmas and then they told my mum to come over. So things were bad but we weren’t – we didn’t kind of had very good conditions in Portugal so we moved to here when we lived for a couple of months with my aunties’ house and like more people obviously. And that was how we came. Our aunties just told us to come over so me and my mum decided to emigrate. We weren’t going to stay for a long time, we didn’t plan it, and then obviously we ended up by staying for a long time.
Interviewer: Manuela, the same with you, how did your family get to be here?
Manuela: Well my mum like, she was sick and my auntie already lived here so she told us that you didn’t have to pay to for the hospitals so we just came over here.
From Home to Here 