I had a long talk yesterday with a HS classmate, Vietnam combat vet, who happens to be 4th generation of Hispanic descent.
My most recent immigrant ancestors came around the same time. (Like me, a genealogy buff, dialed in to our ancestors, where and how they lived, etc.)
Anyway we agreed, people used to "settle" using his term. A permanent, irreversible undertaking, whereby the person expected to have to work very, very hard and possibly not see the reward in their lifetime, but expected his offspring would.
Trivia note: He had the misfortune of being a fast middle distance runner, in a school district that had two state record breakers in 2 years. Nice unpretentious, stable family guy, Trump supporter, too.