Mail-order brides tended to be women of a certain age who for whatever reason decided that they wanted to leave their pasts behind and start over in the west. Most were good, decent women who had little to look forward to or who could not find a suitable spouse in the east. After the decimation of men in the south due to the Civil War, many women found it difficult to wed. This is when they would often turn to things like the Matrimony Gazzette for help. There were several publications run by agencies that published ads from men and sometimes women looking to wed. Mail-order bride would read through the ads looking for men that seemed to fit what they were looking for before beginning a correspondence with them. Over the next few weeks or even months, the young woman would exchange letters with the intended until they determined if it seemed like a good match. Oddly enough most of these ads and letters were quite frank and upfront. No one wanted to waste time or money on something that wasn't going to go anywhere.
Mail-Order Brides were women who had time to get to know their future spouse through written letters but there was another way of finding a spouse; the matchmaker.
Matchmakers were usually women or couples who lived in various areas of the wild west that would bring potential brides to town to be matched with men who were looking for a wife. The Matchmaker would do their best to match people who would be compatible. Since she would already know at least something about the grooms as they were parts of her town. Matchmakers weren't as common as Mail-Order Bride agencies but still provided an important service for men looking to start a family. Once the women arrived they would often live with the matchmaker until she agreed on a match.
Both of these means for women to find a husband and a home of their own in the west were risky and it took a strong heart and a trusting spirit to take the plunge and step into the unknown.
It is a testimony of the time that so many of the marriages worked out for the couples with the majority
I have written several Mail-Order Bride stories, it seems to be a genre that we simply don't get tired of. Do you enjoy this genre or any marriage of convenience story? I know I always have.
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