“I don’t mind that. My parents came from Britain. I think it’s beautiful here. I’m glad people are coming here for a new life.”
“I know. I don’t really mind either. But Joe says that’s why people need to go across the country so that there will be a good mix everywhere. Right now, it’s as if everyone is living here in the East and only men are in the West.”
“Only men? That’s not possible.”
“I don’t mean it quite like that. Not literally. There’s just many more of them than women there.”
“So men advertise for them to come to the West and marry them?” The woman shook her head. “I don’t think I could do it.”
“There are plenty who will.”
There certainly is. Lilly thought.
Chapter Two
Adam sat in the pew listening to Reverend Stoop. The sermon was about salvation and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Adam had heard a very similar sermon recently, here in this same church, from the same pastor.
But he didn’t mind and neither apparently did any of the other members of the small church. They knew that the Reverend often recycled his sermon topics and would forget that he had just used one very recently. He had been here preaching for the last thirty years.
Adam had known the Reverend since he first stepped foot in the church 17 years ago. He was like a second father to Adam, whose own father was living back in the East in the upper parts of New York with his mother and younger sister.
From the start, Adam had not liked the cold weather of New York. He had decided at a young age that he would travel to the West to see what he could make of himself on his own. At the tender age of 17, he’d done just that. It had taken him almost a year to get to his destination but once there, he began working at a farm and eventually took over the farm when his boss died, leaving it to him.
He enjoyed working the farm though the hours were long and things constantly needed to be done. There were tasks from the break of day to sunset and beyond. He hired a farmhand to help him with it, giving him room and board but the work seemed to be overloading him more every day. He was becoming lonely and wanted a change.
In fact, he was itching to make a change. He’d heard from a friend at the saloon that some of the men in farms nearby had been advertising for brides in newspapers in the East. He’d been praying on that and rolling it around in his mind for some time now.
When the service was over, he approached Reverend Stoop with the intention of getting the man’s advice. The Reverend had been married to the same woman for about thirty years, so he had to know something about it. Adam was nervous about the prospect of bringing a woman into his life when he had been a bachelor for so long. What if they weren’t compatible? What if she was not a Christian and they were unequally yoked?
These questions weighed heavily on him.
“If I could talk to you for a moment, pastor.”
The pastor looked at him and smiled. “Adam! Good to see you today.” He stepped down from the small platform to shake Adam’s hand.
“That was a good sermon today, John.”
“Thank you very much. I used the same topic about a month ago, according to the wife, but it was on my heart, so I used it again.”
“We can always use more words about the sacrifice of our Lord.” Adam nodded. “But I have something else I wanted to talk to you about if you have a moment.”
“I do. Let’s go for a walk.” He gestured with one hand, and Adam led the way down the aisle and through the front doors. He put his hat on once they were outdoors and they strolled over the grass around the side of the building. There was a cemetery very close by, and they walked along the side of it.
“I have been feeling very lonely lately. I am thinking about bringing a woman from the East to marry.”
The Reverend nodded. “I have heard of others doing that. Have placed a few ads myself. Not for me. For others in the congregation.”
Adam looked at him, surprised. “You have? I had not heard of that.”
John shook his head. “You wouldn’t have. It’s not something that is advertised here. And the men typically feel as you do, they are nervous and unsure of the future. Most of them request that the arrangement be kept private. Only those closest to them know what’s happening.”
“It seems to be my only option at this point. No women are traveling here just because they feel like it.”
“No, it seems there are only a few females here, other than very small children.”
“Do you know the success rate of other men sending for women from the East? Have they had successful marriages?”
“As far as I have seen, yes, they have. But I have not kept close track of their lives.”