What was farming like during the 1800s?

Life on a farm in the 1800s was not easy. Farming tools were mostly simple, hand held iron devices. Some examples include the Scythe (a sharp curved blade at the end of a pole used to harvest grain), a cultivator (a horse-drawn plow with six blades that digs furrows where seeds can be planted), and a flail (a tool to separate the seeds from the other particles of the grain). read more

In the mid-1800s approximately 30,000 homeless children lived on the streets of New York, and over the next 75 years between 150,000 and 200,000 "orphan" children were sent to new homes in the West via the Orphan Trains. read more

Because of the nature of the land distribution of American farms in the late 1800s, many farming families lived a life of relative isolation. Those who gained land under the Homestead Act, for example, usually received 160 acres to settle, so their closest neighbors were miles away. read more