Tobacco Wives

Tobacco Wives of Jamestown, Virginia. 

While doing a little research on Mail-Order-Brides for a series I'm working on, I came across a little information I found interesting. I had never heard of Tobacco Wives before. In fact, I never thought much about how men found wives in the early days of our history. 

  

 If you want to read the full article, click on the picture to go to the link.

Jamestown, Virginia. The first permanent English settlement in America. It was established by the Virginia Company of London as James Fort in May of 1607.

People immigrated to start a new life in a new land. Others were forced to immigrate to help populate the new colony. Barely a decade after being founded, Jamestown was almost entire male. Because they could not find wives, they began to desert the colony.

Women were needed! But persuading women to go to the colony wasn’t easy. It is said that many were kidnaped and sent. But the Virginia Company had a plan.

The Virginia Company offered incentives for women to go to Jamestown. They were given a dowery of clothing and other furnishings, free transportation to the colony, and a plot of land. Once a women picked a husband, he would reimburse the Virginia Company for travel expenses, furnishings, and land with 120 to 150 pounds of good leaf tobacco.

Exchanging women for tobacco gave the women the name “tobacco wives”.

In many ways it was beneficial for the women to leave England for the Jamestown. Because the need for women was so great, it caused the Virginia leaders for relax many rules involving women. Women had equal right to land set aside by the Virginia Company. When a woman’s husband died, she inherited almost all of his estate instead of one-third as in England. She could now take care of herself and wouldn’t feel pressured to remarry.

The “Tobacco Wives” were the first Mail-Order-Brides. Leaving their old life behind to find a better life in untamed land.

Of course, we hope they found true love as well.

A little bit of the first book in my Brides of Bandy Flatts series.   

         (very rough draft. Pardon the typos)

Worry washed over Mattie, had Jacob seen her and changed his mind? She ran a hand over her simple dress and tucked her cloak in closer around her. She knew she wasn’t much to look at, but she never thought her appearance would cause a man to go running from her.
    She watched as Letty and Leora disappeared into the church with their men. They were off to get married right away and start their new lives. Mattie swallowed hard and looked around again for Jacob. Maybe he was just running late. Had he gotten her last letter letting him know she was arriving? He had to know she would come. He had sent her the funds for her travel to Bandy Flats.
    “Miss Cavanaugh?” a man said from behind her.
    Mattie whirled to face him. Her heart stuttered in her chest. The man before her was tall, broad, and dressed in buckskins, a big rifle held easily in one hand. His dark hair hung to his shoulders and a short beard covered his face, his blue eyes were bright and piercing as he looked at her. He appeared to be carefully taking in her appearance as well. She wasn’t entirely sure he liked what he saw but he looked for a long time.
    “A-are you Mr. Thibodeau?” she ventured, her voice strangely unsteady.
    He nodded and adjusted the rifle to the crook of his arm. “Yes, I came to meet you, Miss Cavanaugh.”
    She swallowed hard and stared at him, he wasn’t what she was expecting at all. Jacob had told her that he had a nice farm in the mountains several miles from the town. She supposed she expected him to look like a farmer, not a mountain man. He had an untamed savage quality about him that she wasn’t expecting but found intriguing.
    “Please, call me Mattie,” she told him. “And I’ll call you Jacob.”
    His eyes widened slightly, and he took a step back. “No, miss, I’m not Jacob.”
    It was her turn to take a step back as she eyed him wearily. “Who are you?”
    “I’m Jordan. Jacob’s brother,” he told her quickly. “I came to tell you that Jacob won’t be coming to fetch you.”
    “He changed his mind?” she asked in disbelief as her hopes plummeted to her feet with a crash.
    He shook his head. “No, miss, he’s dead.”
   Mattie felt like the breath had been knocked from her lungs as she stared at the man before her. “Dead?”
    He nodded solemnly. “There was an accident and he got hurt pretty bad,” he told her regretfully. “He died two weeks ago.”
    Mattie felt panic wash over her and she didn’t know what to say as she looked at the big man before her. Jacob was dead. She had no future husband and no future home. No future at all. She didn’t have enough money to go back east and there was nobody waiting there for her anyway. She would be on her own and that prospect wasn’t appealing. There weren’t many ways for a woman on her own to make a living that was respectable. She had nowhere to go, and she had nothing to get there on.
    “I’m real sorry to have to tell you that, Miss Cavanaugh.”
Mattie blinked back the sudden moisture in her eyes and fought to calm her frantic emotions. “Thank you for coming to tell me,” she managed to say and lifted her carpetbag. “I’m very sorry for the loss of your brother.”
    Before he could see her tears and the total despair in her eyes, she turned and headed for the church. She could at least see her new friends get married and begin their lives.
    While she was in the church, she would send up a few prayers for herself. Her life was in the hands of a higher power now.
                            ***
    Jordan stood outside the stage station and watched the young woman walk to the church and disappear inside. He let out a long breath and headed for the mercantile. It would be months before he made it back down to town for more supplies and he had a big order for Clark to fill.
    His mind went to the young woman again and felt sympathy for her. She had traveled all this way to start a new life with a man she didn’t know, and now she was going to have to return to where she came from.
    Jordan and his two brothers had been surprised when Jacob announced that he was sending for a mail order bride. There hadn’t been a woman on the farm since their mother had died five years ago. Some female influence would have done them all a world of good.
    Jordan walked past his wagon he had left in front of the mercantile and gently patted the heads of the two bay horses hitched to the wagon. “I’ll be fast boys,” he told them. “We’ll be headed home soon.”
    He reached into the back of the wagon and pulled out the wolf and beaver pelts his brother Kyle had trapped. He would be able to get a good price for them from Clark. It took only a few moments for him to gather and load his supplies in the wagon before he climbed in and took up the reins.
    His eyes went to the church to see Mattie there wishing the other two women and their new husbands well. The couples departed ways and Mattie was left there standing alone with her carpetbag at her feet. She looked to the stage depot before she pulled out her coin purse and looked at the contents. She was obviously lacking because she put the coin purse away and there was a defeated slump to her shoulders. She picked up her carpetbag and disappeared back into the church.
    “Poor girl,” he muttered as he slapped the reins to the backs of the team and headed them down the street.
As the team neared the church, Jordan felt a pang of guilt wash over him. His brother had sent the girl money to arrive, the least he could do was give her enough money to go back home. There was no reason for her to be stranded here just because her betrothed had died.
    Jordan pulled the team to a stop before the church. The horses tossed their heads in protest, anxious to be home. He cursed each one as he climbed from the wagon and tied them to the hitchrail. He didn’t want them going home without him.
    Jordan entered the church and paused to let his eyes adjust to the dim light inside. He saw the red-haired girl kneeling with her folded hands resting on the pew before her as she prayed. The sight tugged at Jordan’s heart. He knew she was a good woman. He had read her letters to Jacob as well as wrote to her on behalf of his illiterate brother. Her letters had been honest, and she didn’t sugar coat anything. She had informed his brother right away that she was stubborn and determined. But she could cook and sew and wasn’t afraid of hard work.
    It was obvious that she was a compassionate woman as well. When he had told her of Jacob’s death, she had given him her condolences. He had expected her break into tears and only care about her own future. He had seen the shine of tears in her eyes as well as a flash of despair before she pulled herself together. She knew she was left with no home and no future, but she hadn’t let it get the better of her, she somehow knew she would find a way.
    “Mr. Thibodeau,” a man said softly from a small distance away.
Jordan turned to see the preacher walking toward him. “Preacher.”
At the sound of the voices, Mattie’s head turned to look at them. Her green eyes shone with tears before she quickly turned and went back to her praying. Something inside Jordan stirred and an insane thought hit him.
    “Can I help you, my son?” Preacher asked.
He nodded as he looked at Mattie with her had bowed. “Maybe,” he muttered as he walked to where Mattie knelt and sat in the pew by her. “Miss Cavanaugh?”
    She finished her prayer and crossed herself before she rose to sit beside him. “Mr. Thibodeau,” she said without looking at him, focusing on her hands folded in her lap.
He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “I know you came here to marry my brother, but since he’s dead, might you consider marrying me?”
    Her head snapped around and her eyes were wide as she stared at him. “You want to marry me?”
    He dragged a hand through his long hair and wondered what the hell he was doing. “Not really, but you need a place to go, and we could—”
    “Don’t ask if you don’t want me,” she snapped and jumped to her feet. “I’ll manage on my own.” She grabbed her carpetbag from the pew and shoved past him to the aisle, a task difficult because of his large frame. “I don’t need your charity.”
    Jordan jumped to his feet and went after her. “It’s not charity, damn it,” he growled and then looked to Preacher. “Pardon me.” He hurried after her as she went out the door. “Would you wait and just listen,” he ordered as he took her arm to stop her.
    She jerked her arm free and whirled to glare up at him. “Say your piece and be quick.”
    A small smile tugged his mouth, she was feisty. “I just meant since you’re here already, we could get hitched, and you’d have a place to stay.”
    She scowled at him her green eyes snapping with anger. “I came to marry Jacob. Not you.”
    “True,” he nodded in agreement. “If you’d rather, I’ll buy you passage back home.”
    She looked at him for a long time and he could almost see her going through her options. The prospect of returning to where she came from was obviously not appealing to her. She looked away from him and cast her gaze out over the mountains as she blinked rapidly. It was clear she was trying to decide on the lesser of the two evils. Going back or marrying him.
    He cleared his throat. “I’m not Jacob, but I’m a lot like him. I read the letters you sent, so I know all about you. I know you’d like the farm, and you’d have a nice home. I wouldn’t expect you to…” He couldn’t finish as he felt his cheeks heat. “If that’s what you’re worried about. I just plan on giving you the life Jacob promised you.”
    She swallowed hard and looked at him. “I won’t be your whore, but I won’t be your slave either,” she informed him.
    He was a little taken aback by her statement. “I won’t touch you and neither will my brothers. All I ask from you, is to pull your weight on the farm like the rest of us.”
    She hesitated a long time before she tossed her carpetbag into the wagon. “Let’s get married,” she said as she went back into the church.
    Jordan stood there a moment in shock before he followed her inside. He hoped this was a good idea. He had a feeling she was going to be a lot more than he had bargained for.

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