Sometimes Mail-Order Brides Arrived in Groups

image by mikle15, deposit photos

One group of brides was gathered by Asa Mercer. In point of fact, he made two trips from the Pacific Northwest to Massachusetts in order to bring prospective brides west with him. In 1863, he had gathered enough money from donations to travel east. He hoped to bring hundreds of women back with him, but Massachusetts feared a lack of labor for its textile mills when they reopened after the Civil War. In the end, he only convinced eleven women to travel west with him. All but two found husbands. One of the two devoted herself to teaching, eventually becoming a county school superintendent. Another died, probably from heart problems.

In 1865, Asa returned east to find more women willing to travel west in search of husbands. At one time, he sent a message back to Seattle to prepare for three hundred “war orphans” to accompany him west.

Unfortunately for him, some newspapers became suspicious about Mercer’s motivations, accusing him of recruiting for “dens of iniquity.” As the trip was taking far longer than he expected, Mercer’s capital was shrinking. The ship that was to be given by the federal government ended up in the hands of a man who demanded a far larger price for passage.

Still, he succeeded in bringing at least forty women west on his second trip. When they arrived in California, Mercer was dead broke. He telegraphed the governor of Washington, who had promised to send financial aid if it was required. The governor did not follow through. Many of the women stayed in California, but a few made it to Washington state on several different boats.

Asa Mercer went on to work for several different newspapers in several different states, never seeming to find the exact position that suited him.

image by VitalikRadko, deposit photos

Another plan to bring women west was far more successful. Archer, Thadeus, and Samuel Benton owned a sawmill in Albany, Oregon. In the mid-1860s, the many eligible bachelors in that area commissioned the brothers to go east to bring women west.

The Benton brothers targeted smaller towns. In one town, Endicott City, Maryland, they mailed an advertisement to every home. Many women came to the meeting they held, where the brothers promised peaceful, tree-filled terrain and a husband for every woman.

Many of the men of this area had died in the Civil War, as was the case through a lot of the eastern United States. Not only was marriage unlikely in Endicott City, the opportunities for employment were few. One woman, Constance Ranney, worked as a servant at a wealthy family’s home. She was treated badly there, but saw few other opportunities in Maryland. She was one of the first to sign a contract to make the trip.

She also kept a journal of her trip, as did one other woman on the voyage, Josephine Ann Gibney. More than one hundred women had joined the expedition.

image by dechevm, deposit photos

Most of the brides stayed above deck until the ship was underway. By that time, it was too late to back out, though many wanted to when they saw the conditions of their ship, named the Osceolo. This ship was usually used to transport mules, and the “quarters” for the ladies were actually stalls. Smelly stalls, at that.

At first, most of the women demanded the ship return to shore, but a few pointed out that the conditions in Oregon were likely to be challenging as well. At that point, the ladies rolled up their sleeves and scrubbed the stalls. After several days, the smells were banished.

Then the ladies took over the kitchen, led by Miss Gibney, who had served as a cook on her grandfather’s ship. The sailors greatly appreciated the women’s efforts, saying that their food was the finest served on the ship since it first set sail.

The ladies suffered through rough waters for at least two weeks, causing most to succumb to seasickness. While Miss Gibney suffered less from illness, she was forcibly reminded of the weather that took the lives of her grandfather and her uncle.

After almost four months at sea, the Osceolo arrived in Oregon. Within a year’s time, all but seven of the women were married.

image by leszekczerwonka, deposit photos

Unfortunately, any journals written by the ladies after landing in Oregon have not survived, but I, for one, hope they all found their own happily ever after.

Martha Hutchens is a transplanted southerner who lives in Los Alamos, NM where she is surrounded by history so unbelievable it can only be true. She won the 2019 Golden Heart for Romance with Religious and Spiritual Elements. A former analytical chemist and retired homeschool mom, Martha is frequently found working on her latest knitting project when she isn’t writing.

Martha’s current novella is set in southeast Missouri during World War II. It is free to her newsletter subscribers. You can subscribe to my newsletter at my website, www.marthahutchens.com

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