The Mail-Order Couple and the Unusual Buggy Trip

by Martha Hutchens

image by kathysg, deposit photos

In Nevada County, California, a group of men founded a club based on the idea that it was better to be single than to marry.

However, one of their members courted a mail-order bride. Unfortunately, the story isn’t clear on exactly how they met or courted, other than a brief mention of the fact that the bride came from Grass Valley, California.

Eventually, he decided that matrimony wasn’t for him, and he deserted his would-be wife. The newspaper article does not list what promises were actually made, but they must have been substantial, because the deserted bride took her suitor to court over a breach of promise to marry, and she won. The settlement was $2000, a sum that would be close to $62,000 today.

image by amnachphoto, deposit photos

The bachelor’s club saw this ruling against one of its members, and suggested that any of its members that indulged in the dangerous habit of calling on marriageable females take with them a ledger. At the end of every call, the club told its members to have the female sign the ledger stating that “no matrimonial engagement had been entered into . . .”

Of course, this didn’t help the member at the center of the controversy. No, he was going to have to help himself.

image by naticastillog, deposit photos

Three months later, while on a buggy ride, he met a heavily-laden stage that was traveling from Nevada City to Grass Valley. He stopped the stage, and told the driver that he was willing to relieve the stage of one of its passengers, if she was willing to travel with him to Nevada City while he conducted business there.

The implication of the story is that this was a chance meeting, and that our hero only offered to take this passenger from the stage because it was overburdened. After he finished his business, he would take her to her destination in Grass Valley, which was only about four miles from Nevada City. Given what happens next, I have my doubts, but see what you think.

image by kadrby, deposit photos

The lady accepted this offer and joined our hero in his buggy. And yes, this would be the same young lady that our hero deserted. The same young lady that took him to court and won. Somewhere along the ride, the young couple settled their differences. On arriving in Nevada City, they presented themselves to Judge Reardon, the same judge that presided over the trial between them, and asked to be married.

I must say, this is one story that I would dearly love to know more than the mere facts. What fight caused the man to flee in the first place? Did the young lady hope for this resolution when she took her suitor to court? Was it a chance meeting, or did our hero chase down the stage?

And what was discussed on that trip back to Nevada City?

While we will never know the answers to those questions, we do know the Bachelor’s Club’s response to these events. With great ceremony, they expelled their former brother from their ranks.

The Daily Transcript, May 10, 1881

Story from Hearts West: True Stories of Mail-Order Brides on the Frontier by Chris Enss