THE END
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A Mail Order Bride For Daniel
Story Description
Coloma, California – 1850
Daniel Bishop is a handsome and kind miner of coal and gold in Coloma, California. Though his work is thrilling and he has made a fortune in gold, there is one thing he is desperately missing: a wife with which to share both his life and riches. He has been writing letters to a sweet and feisty young woman named Hannah James, a jewelry store clerk in New York, and she is eager to join him out West to embark on an exciting new start.
Their connection simply through their written correspondence is so true and strong, that no question remains in Daniel’s mind that Hannah is the perfect woman for him. He promptly sends along a train ticket and excitedly awaits her arrival in Coloma. When she arrives, their chemistry face to face proves to be as strong–if not stronger–than it had been through their letters, and soon, they decide to begin their lives together as husband and wife.
Problems arise when Hannah raises her desire to continue selling jewelry as she had back East. Daniel, out of concern for her safety, initially tries to discourage her due to the fact that the town is known for its history of run-ins with bandits. One day, while Daniel is away working, Hannah attempts to go mining on her own, and due to her lack of experience, she finds herself lost in a deep, dark cave.
Will Daniel be able to save his new bride from danger, and if so, how can he ensure her safety while helping her fulfill her lifelong dreams?
Daniel Bishop looked down at the letter in his hands, a mile-wide smile on his handsome face. Nothing would please me more than to join you in California, the letter said, in the lovely swirling letters that belonged to Miss Hannah James. I have of course enjoyed my life here but I believe that I have been called West by the Lord – as you surely must have been – to use my skills elsewhere. I do long for adventure and to explore some of the great unknown. I would love to be there by your side so that we might do so together.
After months and months of writing back and forth to each other, Daniel believed he had finally found his mail order bride! He was so nervous when he placed the advertisement in the newspaper so many months prior, thinking that a man can only be so lucky.
He struck gold in 1849 and had been flying high ever since, until the loneliness set in. Daniel had a fortune now, and a profitable business to boot, but he had no one with which to share it. He had friends in town, of course, but he longed for the companionship of a woman. Growing up back East before the war and dreams of glory had brought him Westward, Daniel had not had the happiest life. He fretted that he was never going to be able to find a wife and be able to start a family of his own, because the family that he had had growing up had been pretty downright awful towards him.
They say that war changes a man, and in Daniel’s case it was no different. However, what it really did was light a fire within him that he didn’t realize he had before joining the war with Mexico. His family life had managed to shape him into such a shy and awkward fellow, eager to be liked and sad whenever he invariably was not. After the war, he was older, wiser and more confident in himself. He had heard thrilling tales of men finding gold in California and striking it rich, so he decided to stay on and search for some himself.
The call to marry and perhaps start a family had faded in all of that time. Ambition gripped him and soon, the gold and subsequent success started pouring in, making him incredibly prosperous virtually overnight. Only then did his old woes and worries return…
But now it was going to happen. He was going to have Hannah James there with him as his wife! It felt almost surreal to think of it. He didn’t presume she would want to marry him all because of some letters. Though he had always been sincere and forthright in his writing to her, he did not want her to think that she had to believe the man on paper was one hundred percent the man in the flesh. After all, there was the whole matter of the mines to consider. She was going to have to get used to the idea of him descending into the abyss each day in order for him to put food on the table. Hannah seemed so clever and wise beyond her years. And so understanding. Writing to her had been so easy and carefree. Talking with girls had never come so naturally to him before! He sometimes wondered if the fact that they were building their relationship in writing rather than in person had something to do with it…
He was almost too excited to hold his pen as he wrote back to her.
Dearest Miss James,
I am so delighted that you wish to join me here in California! I have been so fortunate and successful in my endeavors thus far, but it can be quite lonely for a gentleman out here. I look forward to meeting you and having you here with me.
I have enclosed a train ticket and I will await your arrival with great excitement.
Warmest regards,
Daniel Bishop
He ended this final letter to her with a post-script that was a series of dots and lines. During the war, Daniel had been trained to use Morse code as a way of communicating with his fellow soldiers. He thought that Hannah might appreciate and be intrigued by this small gesture. It would certainly be a good ice breaker when it came time for their first conversation.
The ways in which she had written to him thus far had been quite passionate and heartfelt, so there was no doubt in Daniel’s mind that Hannah would be pleased to receive his railway ticket. He hesitated to come out with it and propose to her on paper because he wished to meet her in person, though it was more or less a foregone conclusion – perhaps on both ends – that they would be wed in the not too distant future.
Miss James was a smart, funny young woman who made her living as a jewelry store clerk in New York. She was twenty-two years old and Daniel was twenty-nine. It seemed to be a match made in Heaven. He found her beguiling and she wrote that he was intriguing and just the sort of man she had been dreaming of these years. Her letters were long and detailed, and Daniel found himself falling more and more in love with her with each new letter. The time simply seemed right for her to join him in Coloma. He wanted to give Hannah some time to readjust and get used to her new life, but he already had a ring for her and he had every intention of proposing once she was settled and happy with him.
Truth be told, before his big move out west, Daniel had not had the best luck. His parents died when he was young, leaving him to go from relative to relative. Nowhere seemed like home because no one seemed to want to keep him around for longer than necessary. As soon as he was old enough, he struck out on his own and became a miner, traveling further and further from the life he had known on the East Coast. His rough upbringing, he believed, was what lit a fire within him and drove him towards each of his successes. That drive led him to the small mining and lumber mill town in California. Coloma was his happy accident, and he loved the town ever more for it. No matter how lonely he got, the thought of leaving his beloved home never once entered his mind.
The morning came and brought with it the same thrilling atmosphere that Daniel always felt when he was sending off a letter to his dear Hannah James in New York. He arrived at the post office first thing in the morning and made sure that the letter was safely on its way before he set out to work in the mine for the rest of the day. Though he had started out mining for coal, he and his men had much shinier goals now. Shinier, more valuable goals.
“Good morning, sir,” one of his workers, Jeff, said upon seeing him. “You’re grinning awfully big today.”
Daniel felt shy. He didn’t usually discuss personal matters on the job, but he was so elated about how things had progressed with Hannah th
at he couldn’t contain his joy any longer.
“I have plenty of reason to grin these days,” he stated, his smile not even slightly diminishing. “I have a lady friend coming all the way from New York to meet me soon.”
There was no question what ‘lady friend’ meant. A large number of miners and ranchers in the West were taking it upon themselves to find mail order brides to help them start families and maintain their homes. Daniel’s men all looked at each other and laughed appreciatively at this news.
“Congratulations!” Walter, another of Daniel’s miners, shouted.
Daniel chuckled. “Yes, yes, thank you,” he said bashfully. “Now let’s get to work. There’s plenty of worthwhile ore in this mine. I just know it. And no yelling when you’re inside there, unless you have a death wish.”
They joked about such things, but there was a lot of truth in that as well. Mining was a profitable business, but it was dangerous, too. A lot of good men were lost to accidents and mismanagement. Daniel had resolved early on that he would not lose any men to negligence like that. He and his men collected their picks and shovels, along with some candles to light their way, and carefully climbed down into the mine. They wore a rope which tied them all together by the waist, to make sure that they all stayed together and none of them fell down the mine shaft.
Will Hannah worry about me, down here in this dusty darkness? Daniel wondered. Does she worry even now?
He didn’t want her to be concerned about his line of work, but there was something comforting about the thought of having a loving woman sitting at home, praying for his safety.
****
Several weeks went by with no word from Miss James. Daniel was used to the waiting by now, but this felt even more nagging due to the fact that he was looking forward to her traveling to him. Perhaps she would not write back to him at all? It was not entirely necessary, but he longed to read more news from her. He was not a patient person. After so many years of hardship early on in his life, he now clung dearly to things that brought him joy. He hoped that she would understand that in time.
He checked with the mail office regularly, just in case there was any news from New York. Sure enough, one afternoon he received a new letter from Hannah James. It was yellowed and slightly torn from its long journey. He couldn’t wait and opened it at once, right there in the office.
Dearest Daniel,
I pray that this letter reaches you and that you are well. Thank you ever so much for providing me with a ticket to California. I shall be on the train to you at once. With any luck, I will be on my way as you are reading this. Take care of yourself and I shall be with you soon. I look forward to it every moment!
All the best,
Hannah
Daniel smiled and hugged this letter to his chest once he had finished reading it three times. Each time felt like it brought her closer to him. He hoped and prayed that the train ride from New York to Coloma would be comfortable for her. He knew that it would certainly not be short.
When he returned home from work that evening, he did his best to clean the soot and grime from one of his favorite suits. It consisted of ill-fitting slate gray slacks and a matching jacket. He wore it with a charcoal tie and a crinkled white shirt usually, though now he was wondering if he should go to the shops in town and get himself some new clothing. Daniel wanted to make a great first impression for Hannah, and he didn’t know how he was ever to do such a thing if he showed up in a wrinkled, dirty old suit.
“What do you think about the way I dress?” Daniel asked his friends in town. It wasn’t quite their usual saloon topic of discussion, but he was feeling antsy and nervous now that the big meeting day was fast approaching.
Franklin, the town sheriff, gave him a funny look. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’d never really given it much thought before. Why? Since when have worried about your appearance?”
Their friend Thomas grinned. He worked at the prominent lumber mill in town and was perhaps not the best person to ask for fashion advice. Every outfit he wore largely consisted of thick plaid and flannel. “Are you concerned about what your new guest might think?”
Franklin raised his eyebrows. “Has she given you cause to think she might judge your attire?”
Daniel shook his hands a bit defensively. “No, no, it’s nothing like that. I just want to make a good first impression is all. I haven’t been around women in a long time.” No one in Coloma had, really. There wasn’t much in the small town that would attract a lady. Not yet, anyway.
“I think Ephraim does some tailoring from his general store,” Thomas said thoughtfully, scratching his scruffy chin. “He might at least be able to clean you up a bit.”
Daniel thought that was the best option for him. He had never before wished for Coloma to have a clothing boutique like the ones back East. He wondered if his beloved jewelry store shopkeeper would be interested in such a thing as well.
It was evident: Coloma needed women. None of the men that Daniel knew in town had brought along wives with them, and that meant there was a real lack of shops beyond the basic iron works and general stores that could be found in a mining town like Coloma. He wondered if that might change now that the fighting in the west was at an end and ladies could feel less threatened by the thought of moving there.
He prayed that when his Hannah arrived that she would feel completely safe to be there with him and that she wouldn’t find the town he called home to be too rough and barebones for her liking.
****
Daniel stood beside his horse-drawn cart, squinting into the sun as he waited anxiously for the train to arrive. He had checked with the station ahead of time to make sure that the timing was right. It was not extremely often that a train from New York came into the small town in California. The majority of trains brought things like supplies and workers. However, Hannah James was due to be on the next train. Daniel could hardly believe it himself.
He wore his old gray suit, but Ephraim had been kind enough to clean it thoroughly and took the time and care to tailor every stitch to fit Daniel’s tall, slender frame properly. He hoped that his beloved Hannah would appreciate the fact that he had made it a point to look his very best. She seemed so caring and fun in her letters, so he figured that it was more than likely his own nerves than anything she might have said that caused him to be so concerned about his appearance.
He wasn’t a bad looking gentleman by any means, modest as he was. He had dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, and a trimmed but pronounced mustache and beard on his chin that made him appear both charming and rugged. The only wrinkles on his face were some lines near the corners of his eyes, the result of smiling and squinting every day in the bright California sunlight. Though he was slender, he was healthy and muscular from working long hours, climbing into mineshafts and carting back heavy loads of gold and coal.
He had never laid eyes on Hannah, but her appearance didn’t matter to him, as long as she was pleasant and kind; though, of course, there did loom in his mind some hopes that she would be lovely to look upon. In his imaginings of her, she was. When they sent letters to each other, it had never occurred to Daniel to ask Hannah for her portrait. Now that he was here, waiting for her train to arrive, he wondered if that had been a good idea.
Suddenly, a large black train engine came into view. Daniel left his carriage where it stood, securing his horses, and walked further onto the platform. He didn’t want Hannah to be left standing there, looking for him. He knew that he didn’t know what she looked like, but he thought this might be a good test to see if he could guess. Mightn’t she glow just a bit brighter than the other ladies that might be coming? Perhaps she would even be the only one…
Daniel watched as the passengers began to disembark from the train, carrying their luggage and being helped by plenty of attendants and conductors. He did not see any women at first, but then he was keeping his distance still so that his beloved would not be overwhelmed by his presence there immediately upon arr
ival. He did his best to calmly wait there, watching the people as they exited the train as if each of them was the most interesting thing he had ever witnessed.
One such passenger stood out to him. She was a pretty little thing, with long flowing locks of red hair. Instead of wearing her hair up like so many women did in the days that he recalled when he lived on the East Coast, this young woman had her hair down and loose, which caught his eye and immediately captivated him. Daniel hoped he wasn’t approaching the wrong woman, but he had a feeling deep in his core that this was in fact, his bride-to-be.
Hannah James looked around the train platform, smiling from ear to ear, enthralled by everything before her eyes. Life in New York had been peaceful and happy, but she longed to explore someplace new and to seek exciting and fresh opportunities. She had always been feisty and adventurous, so finding a prospective husband for herself in the newspaper had seemed like the best choice for her. Her chest swelled with hope as she looked around and saw all the promise in the town that would soon be her new home.
“Excuse me?” Daniel asked as he approached Hannah, making sure he didn’t startle her by getting too close. “My name is Mr. Daniel Bishop. Are you by any chance Miss Hannah James from New York?”
He could hear the nervous tone in his voice; feel the quaking in his throat. He hoped that she didn’t notice.
The young woman smiled brightly at him and gave a nod. “Indeed, I am,” she said to him. “How wonderful to meet you at last!” She of course noticed how his voice warbled a bit, but she attributed it to nerves. She was feeling the same sort of way, and she felt that it was rather endearing to hear it coming from a gentleman like him. After all, he had been through war and here he was nervous around little her? She found him quite adorable.
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