Marvin T. Beatty

A Few Good Acres: the Odyssey of Thomas Beaty and His Descendants in America Marvin T. Beatty

A poor but determined young Scots-Irish immigrant, Thomas Beaty, worked his way across colonial Pennsylvania contending with Indians, blizzards and uncertain land titles until he and his hardy wife were able to buy a steep farm on the frontier. There, they raised their twelve children. As successive generations follow the frontier westward battling tornados, alcoholism, locusts, prairie fires, betrayal, drought, and disease, they prosper amid the booms and busts of the changing rural economy. Through hard work and determination some of them manage to hang on to a few good acres of rich farm land. A Few Good Acres tells the story of the Beaty family from the very beginning when Tom and his brother, Will, take the boat to America from Ireland to find a place to call home. Tom Beaty and the generations to follow will explore the frontier to find good land on which to farm and raise their families.