Image by kathysg, deposit photos |
Men outnumbered women in Idaho by approximately 132 to 100. Because of this, he chose to write to his aunt in West Virginia and ask her to find a wife for him. His aunt chose Phoebe Harrington.
Phoebe was one of six children and her mother died when she was eleven. She took a job as a maid not long after her mother died, and worked at that or similar jobs for sixteen years. At that point she responded to an advertisement for a wife and was selected to travel west to marry William.
Bodie Ghost Town Image by Bukki88, deposit photos |
Phoebe arrived in Shoshone, Idaho in 1911. William, armed with a written description, met his bride at the train station. They married within an hour of meeting. After the wedding, William took his new wife to his farm, about twenty miles from the town of Shoshone.
Their homestead was in Magic Valley, north of the Snake River. Together, they maintained their two-room cabin, a garden, a farm, and a herd of sheep. Unfortunately, the land was not conducive to farming, and the family struggled.
They would eventually have seven children, the first born nine months after their wedding.
Image by PantherMediaSeller, deposit photos |
After twenty-five years of struggle with the farm in Magic Valley, the family moved to a ranch near the town of Salmon. Here, they met with much greater success.
They lived together for forty-seven years before William died in an automobile accident. Phoebe died sixteen years later.
William and Phoebe have such a simple story, unlike the story I shared last month of Eleanor Berry and Louis Dreibelbis. Matrimonial News, a paper solely dedicated to matching couples, estimates that more than 2600 couples met through their enterprise and married. While William and Phoebe probably didn’t use that paper, they are just one of thousands of couples that met their spouse via mail.
They lived together for forty-seven years before William died in an automobile accident. Phoebe died sixteen years later.
William and Phoebe have such a simple story, unlike the story I shared last month of Eleanor Berry and Louis Dreibelbis. Matrimonial News, a paper solely dedicated to matching couples, estimates that more than 2600 couples met through their enterprise and married. While William and Phoebe probably didn’t use that paper, they are just one of thousands of couples that met their spouse via mail.
Martha Hutchens is a history nerd who loves nothing more than finding a new place and time to explore. She won the 2019 Golden Heart for Romance with Religious and Spiritual Elements. A former analytical chemist and retired homeschool mom, Martha occasionally finds time for knitting when writing projects allow.
Martha can frequently be found at the Sunrise Historical Hearts Facebook page, along with other Sunrise authors. If you would like to find out about new Sunrise releases (including a mail-order bride series), and meet other historical authors, click here to join the fun.
Thank you for posting today. Sometimes, simple stories are ok! I like to think that I'm living a simple story, I don't need any big splashes!
ReplyDeleteThis couple are often the seeds that bring fiction to life. It makes me want to know more about them or make it up.
ReplyDelete