Jeremiah O'Reilegh is an 11-year-old Irish immigrant living in a small colonial home in New England with his parents and three siblings. He describes his family, home, schooling, and daily chores which include feeding animals and working in the fields. Life is hard but they have enough food. Jeremiah enjoys outdoor games with his few toys and attends a one-room schoolhouse and Saturday church services. Punishments for misbehavior are harsh like spanking or ear nailing for lawbreakers.

1. My Book About Colonial Life In New England By Curtis Hudson

2. My parents gave me the name Jeremiah O’Reilegh. I am an immigrant from Ireland who came to New England for a better life. I have blue eyes, long blond hair, and I'm 5 foot 1. I'm eleven years of age. I'm a hard working , kind, caring young man. I have a black , and white beagle named Spot.

3. I have six family members in my family. I have two brothers , one sister, a mother, and a father. My younger brother Jared is eight years of age. My older brother Seth is thirteen years old. My older sister ,Abby is fifteen years of age. My father’s name is Abiel. My mother’s name is Allison.

4. I have a small two story red home with a chimney. I have a nice yard with plenty of room to play and flowers all around. My two brothers, my sister , and I all sleep upstairs. My parents sleep downstairs. My house has ten windows with a black roof. There are three bedrooms in my home. There is a kitchen and a dinning room in my home too.

5. I have a long sleeve shirt under my vest and a coat with eight buttons over my vest. I have long white pants. Black boots are what I wear on my feet. A white fluffy collar is around my neck andwhite fluffy cuffs around my wrists. Although it gets hot in the summer , its nice and warm in the winter.

6. My father works as a blacksmith. He and my brothers and I all built our home. He makes all different types of metal items. He also helps other people build things. He makes all of our tools, silverware, and tables and many other items. His hands are all dry and sore from years of work. He doesn’t get to come home until all his work is done , it takes him all day to finish his work.

7. My mother works as a school teacher. She works very hard to teach many children. All the children and I all go to school in a one room school house. She helps the students if they do not understand something. She teaches us how to read and write.

8. I have many chores I have to do. Right after I wake up I have to feed our chickens and gather the eggs. I also have to feed our pigs , cows , and our horses. I help my father in the fields to harvest enough food for my family. After a long day of work a hot dinner is nice and yummy.

9. Although I only have a few toys I can discover many things to do outside. I have a cup and ball it involves a small round object and a cup , you toss up the object and try to catch it in the cup. I also have stick and hoop ,it’s a very energetic game. You have to see how long you can go tapping the hoop while rolling before it falls over. I have a lot of fun with them.

10. I eat eggs, bacon , and toast for breakfast. Most of the time I will eat potato soup for lunch. For dinner I will eat some kind of stew. If there is enough fruit or berries my mother will make a pie. They're always yummy. I think my mother is a fantastic cook.

11. All the children and I all go to school in a one room school house. There are four windows to keep us cool in the summer, a chimney to keep us warm in the winter. I learn all kinds of interesting information.

12. If I misbehave my father would take me to the animal barn and spank me with a paddle, and it hurts my backside. I learn from my mistakes and never do the same thing again.

13. If I got sick my family could use plants and animals to help cure me. Some cures work better than others , but they all help. I just try not to get sick.

14. Every Saturday morning I go to church in a two story building. Before we start we open with a prayer, we pray for people in need. We talk about how we should obey God. It is fun to go to church every Saturday.

15. If you did not obey the law you would have a nail hammered through your ear, or get branded on your hand. I would think twice before breaking the law because it would hurt.