February 09, 2012 - Page 3


‘Mail Order Brides’ Cont. from Page 2


the years.


In 1864 eleven ladies (referred to in history only by the title given them that referred to the man who arranged their jour- ney) embarked upon a coura- geous endeavor. They left their comfortable homes in cities in the east to travel to the far west- ern shores of the North American continent, arriving in a new town called Seattle.


Historians have done well in educating us about Asa S. Mercer, the man who lent his name to this group of ladies. We know he was the son of Aaron & Jane Mercer. He was born June 6, 1839, in Princeton, Illinois and graduated from Franklin College in 1860. He went to Seattle, after college, to visit his brothers, Tom and Aaron Mercer. We also have been told how while in Seattle he helped to construct the Territorial University and upon its completion was appointed as its first president. According to history it was Asa’s idea, at a time when men out numbered women 9 – 1, to go east to seek ladies of quality and refinement to help balance the male/female ratio of the region.


We have been told how Mercer took this group of ladies, via a steam ship, from New York to Aspinwall/Colon, then across the Isthmus by train where another ship was waiting to take them to San Francisco. From San Francisco they traveled by way of a lumber bark to Seattle, arriving May 16th, 1864.


But what do we know of the ladies? Who were they? Where did they come from? What made them leave their homes and fami- lies for all the unknowns and uncertainties of the Pacific Northwest? And most important- ly, what became of them once they were in Seattle?


Over the last several years I have been on a quest to document the lives of the courageous young ladies who left their homes and families to travel to a settlement that still had dirt streets and oil lamps.


This is their story.


I have searched birth, marriage and death records, census, jour- nals, newspapers, land records, probate records, local history books and had interviews with descendants. There are still some gaps, but I hope to fill those in as my research continues. My goal is to someday publish the story of


these ladies lives. I hope you enjoy this peek at some of what I have discovered.


Early Spring 1864, Lowell, Massachusetts


It had only been a few weeks since Asa Shinn Mercer, the newly elected president of the university in Seattle, stood at a podium in the Unitarian Church in Lowell and told how Seattle,


in Washington


Territory, was a fast growing town and was in need of teach- ers and ladies of quality. The city had more than doubled in the years since the first families had landed across the bay at Alki, and the university had been opened just the year before. Mercer explained that as the community grew there were more children of school age but few to teach them. To those willing to go west with him, Mercer made promises of hon- orable work in the schools and good wages. This was a wel- come idea to many in atten- dance since the war had caused the loss of jobs and left families without men to support them.


Before the civil war Lowell had been a flourishing mill town, but now with no cotton coming from the southern states, most of the mills had shut their


doors. The few jobs that were left had been taken by the men that, for one reason or another, had not gone to fight in the war. Many families had lost their men in the fighting and the women were struggling to support themselves and their children. For the young ladies of marrying age the prospects of finding a husband in Lowell looked very dim. Mr. Mercer had come to Lowell to invite ladies to go west with him to a place where jobs and men were abundant. The cost of the trip, Mercer explained, would be $250.00. They would travel west by ship to Aspinwall, Panama, then by train to Panama City, and by ship again to San Francisco and then to Seattle. All by the best of accommodations. The people of Seattle had agreed to put the ladies up in their homes and welcome them into the com- munity, while finding them jobs in the various schools. (Read Mercer's letter to the New York Times)


As the meeting adjourned that evening you could hear the excitement in the conversations of those leaving. Many were interested in going west with Mercer but only a small num-


‘Mail Order Brides’ Cont. on Page 5


President Theodore Roosevelt


'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.


But this is predicated upon the per- son's becoming in every facet an American and nothing but an American ... There can be no divid- ed allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but some- thing else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag ... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'


MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. LOW WAGES,


COMPLETE DARKNESS. SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND


RECOGNITION IN EVENT OF SUCCESS. Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer (1874-1922)


The advertisement above, placed in a London newspaper in 1912, inspired nearly 5,000 replies. Shouldn’t you be advertising in


The Paper, your local, community paper?


Subscribe to The Paper!


It’s Easy Just call 760.747.7119


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