In 1848, Mark Farney at age 23 was stepping off a ship in Boston from his native Ireland. Farney came to America for "better opportunities for advancement, more freedom, more room to play the game of life than was afforded by overcrowded Ireland." Boston satisfied his curiosity until 1853 when he prepared to head to California.

All pictures and much of the text for the Orchard School History pages were borrowed from the book, Orchard School: A Narrative History, written by Richard Keller.