One of my distant relatives came to American with about a buck, no prospects or skills. He died miserably in a tenement during the 1918 flu pandemic, literally drowning in his own blood from the broken vessels in his lungs.
I say this as a reminder to myself to take vitamins and wash my hands regularly.
Another of my relatives grew up poor in frontier Kentucky, joined the Confederate Army at a relatively late age, rose to Colonel by killing Yankees.
Then he became a lawyer and I lost all respect for him.