These entries revealed how dedicated Markerly was to her family. Although too seasick to make journal entries, she still arose from her bed and nursed Hannah through the day as midwife. Her sense of duty prompted her to make an apologetic note in her journal for not writing daily. Prior to the professionalism of medicine and its male dominance, births took place at home under the care of experienced women. Additionally, her references to Neptune indicated that she was an educated person with knowledge of mythology and a wry sense of humor. However, the detailed notation of coordinates suggested more than an accurate sense of geography. It revealed that she felt a profound need to establish a sense of location as she relocated from her lifetime home to an uncertain future. That uncertainty heightened as the winds increased to a hurricane force for the first three days in the life of her new grandson, William Doncaster.
As the strong winds continued to threaten the ship, the vessel experienced additional dangers from the North Atlantic. When they neared the Banks of Newfoundland, the passengers and crew sighted the first iceberg of the voyage. On early Sunday morning, the first mate nearly fell overboard, and the temperature grew markedly colder. The next day, they passed two more icebergs, which Lucy bravely characterized, as “moving castles.” Yet the voyage was beginning to wear on them as she noted that the crew could not measure a sounding even with 150 fathom of line. She noted the bravery and skill of the Captain and crew who had carried them this far. More icebergs appeared on the horizon and tens of thousands of ice pieces and flows surrounded the ship. In the evening large pieces crashed against the hull and woke the passengers, who sometimes wondered if the ship would remain seaworthy. The following morning and afternoon, they passed even larger icebergs more than a mile long and a half-mile wide that drew within twenty yards of the vessel. Her journal related that the oldest sailor on board commented that he had never before seen so much ice in this expanse. After more than a month at sea, Markerly remarked, “I began to be very weary of my prison.”25 This comment revealed her emotional state as fear and anxiety began to wear down her spirits. Van Vugt has stated that the physical and psychological burdens were formidable to the people who chose to emigrate. Family ties and group support were significant assets to emigrants who faced these harsh conditions and inclement weather.
On Saturday morning, May 11, she noted that the previous evening had been the coldest and the worst yet with the passengers struggling just to remain in their berths. During the day icicles hung from the rails and masts; glare ice covered the deck, making the footing treacherous. Although they passed another vessel, the widow was too weak to leave her berth to witness it, and she related that all of the children had been ill for several days. The crew removed Hannah and baby William to another cabin while they scrubbed and washed their accommodations. That day her last journal entry stated “I think the little one cannot live much longer.”26 The issue of illness continued as a major source of stress, and the family dealt with this through their religious faith.
Markerly spent the next several days in bed with a severe headache, but she continued to attend the Sunday afternoon prayer meetings hosted by their Captain. She observed that although two Irish Catholics were on board, they appeared to be respectable people. This grudging concession pointed out the cultural and religious differences between the Celts and the English. She noted that one of their Methodists argued with the Catholics over religious dogma. When not debating matters of faith, most of the passengers revealed feelings of homesickness. Those from Lincolnshire reminisced about their agricultural fair held at Sutton, while the emigrants from Yorkshire compared their exhibition at Beverly held on the same day. There was some cause for optimism when Markerly observed that the sailors were preparing the anchors, which they would need when they reached landfall. “Land, land cried aloud from every tongue—but the rain descends in torrents, I cannot go upon deck.”27
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