Summary:  A female teacher in Virginia City; what Abigail Myers thinks about her life, education, and the general situation during the boom of 1876. With a response from Adam Cartwright.
Rating:  G  (2,465 words)

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Bonanza
~*~*~ Advent Calendar ~*~*~
* Day 22 *

Decisions and Changes

Should I or shouldn’t I? Decisions and changes; how often through the years had the course of her life swung through 180 degrees? She looked out the window as if it could show her the answer. Being married had probably been the biggest transformation of her life, but it had only lasted twelve years, before Hank died of blood poisoning after an accident with a cow.

Again she stirred the corn-meal with a practiced hand and had a look at the potful of vegetable stew she was heating beside it in the back room of the school. Yes, cooking was her best housewifely skill, one she really enjoyed, even if for most of her life her mother had done all such work.

There had been other changes, both before her marriage and after. The decision to leave Ohio had been a big one. Teachers were needed badly here in the wilderness and even females earned relatively good pay, so she and her mother took the chance and headed West. How grateful she would always be that her father had been convinced that a girl could learn as well as any boy, and that he had provided his only child with a complete preparation for higher education! Just when she was old enough to attend, Oberlin College opened up their full classical curriculum to women and all that forethought had paid off. Yes, she shared her father’s opinions out of her own experience and observing her pupils’ studies. And how good it was, that she, after her father’s sudden and early death, could support her mother and herself and provide them both with a decent life! Good for them both, but also good for the community! When women were self-supporting nobody needed charity and she was also certain that they could be successful at many other jobs besides teaching.

Abigail looked through the window again to check on the group of children playing outside. All was peaceful, so she got on with her cooking. One of the older girls would call her if anything dangerous threatened.

In the early days, before the silver rush, there were only a few farmers and ranchers. Her memories drifted back to recall the one room schoolhouse made from logs and a 15 year old Joseph Cartwright sitting in it, reading the stories she herself loved with disgust. She remembered thinking, this handsome boy will benefit from them later on. And in the next moment she saw herself sitting in her new dress in a mud puddle right outside the church because of Little Joe’s scheme to emulate Sir Walter Raleigh. It was years before she and Hank could laugh about this episode, but then they did often, it was really so ridiculous, at least in memory. Hank had known what he wanted, so clearly that he had gotten involved with Joseph’s shenanigans. And she?

She liked to teach, to read, to study.  But there was also this romantic streak. Maybe back then a little girlish. A feeling of how good it would be if a man, the right one, a prince, came and carried her off to his castle. The right one. In the beginning she had thought it must be Adam Cartwright, because the right man for her could surely be no one but an educated person who loved books, music, and science. Hank, when she first met him, seemed more than a bit rough, but once she heard him sing with such deep feeling, once he showed her how important she was to him not despite her being a teacher and no longer a young girl but because of those things, because he sincerely admired her manners and education, she knew he was the man for her.

She had imagined a simple life with him, using her education only for her own and his private pleasure: reading books with him in the evenings, making music. Yes, and they really had. They bought a piano and she practiced playing it again, and they made music together. It was very satisfying. During the days she and her mother cleaned house, did the laundry, weeded the vegetables and cooked. At first when she had married Hank she was a little afraid he would be disappointed with her lack of household skills but Hank always said: “Abigail, if I wanted to marry a farmer wife I could have, but I married a teacher,” and then kissed her. Did she perhaps become a little bit irritable after their first year of marriage, or did he sense on his own that she couldn’t be completely satisfied without teaching? That she wasn’t really a woman who could enjoy just being cared for by a prince? One day he had showed her an advertisement he’d boldly marked out in the newspaper where a businessman was looking for someone who could tutor his son in Latin. She took the position and Hank, very proudly, told her often, “With the hay and cows I sell in Virginia City I earn us a good living, but with the lessons you give we can afford a few extras and hire ourselves some helpers. If anyone dares tell me I should make you stay at home to be unhappy, I shall be very unhappy myself, my love.” He would lower his voice as he added, “Somehow I don’t think anyone will say that.”

Abigail smiled at the memory.  The Bible said each should be a careful steward of one’s talents, after all. Yes, she could weed the garden, but she was doing more good (and also earning that useful extra money) by helping boys prepare for college or the seminary. And this was true for everyone, she thought. Why waste so many possibilities by not harnessing the abilities of every person, male or female, and of all races? Why shouldn’t even married couples both choose to work, if they so wished?

During her own time at Oberlin College there had been a few Negro classmates, and she had read of the first black woman who succeeded in graduating from college. She was convinced that universal education was the key to a happier society and proud to play her part in achieving that goal. Recently she had listened to a speech of Sarah Winnemucca and heard she had founded a school for Paiute children. This was important work, too. In a few years, why shouldn’t any sufficiently prepared Paiutes be allowed to enroll in Nevada’s public schools?  Sarah was raising money for her tribe’s welfare as well as for her school; Abigail had contributed her widow’s mite and hoped that enough other people would also be generous that the school could succeed.

Being married to Hank made her aware of many new things. When she began teaching she had concentrated on the pupils in her classes, trying to teach them how to read, figure, speak properly and be honest, but she had never worried about children who didn’t come to school. Her Hank had told her that he would have liked to attend school for longer, but after his father’s death he had to work full-time on the family farm. So it wasn’t a surprise when one day Hank asked her to help a neighbor’s three children with their education. Their mother was sick and they couldn’t attend school regularly. All three were such good students and the oldest now worked in an office in San Francisco. Hank and she were so proud of his success! But when the children came to learn, mostly on Sundays after church, her mother had always prepared something good for them to eat. A hungry child can’t learn! This insight was something she now used in her new school.

The last big change had been Hank’s death three years ago. Now a widow, she sold their ranch in the Carson Valley and bought a small house in Virginia City again. Prices had gone up now that the town had grown so much, but the need for teachers was also great, so it wasn’t difficult to find work at a school again. Most of her pupils now were the children of miners. Labor in the mines was increasingly dangerous as the mines grew deeper and deeper. There were often accidents, and if a father died or was injured his family was quickly in need.

Once again there was a decision to be made. The school board had asked her if she would like to teach at the new Fourth Ward school being built, the first high school in Virginia City. This would allow her to teach Latin and maybe even Greek instead of just the basic classes. But should she abandon her current pupils? Who else would not only teach them but see to their other needs?

Maybe I could write a letter to Adam Cartwright, now that he’s come home with his family and taken a place on the school board. Maybe he will have an idea for how the poor miners’ children can be supported if I don’t teach them anymore.

Abigail Myers opened the window and called: “Michael, Pedro, Maria, Sean, and Clara, come in with your bowls! But wash your hands before we begin eating!”

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Dear Mrs Myers,

Thank you for your long letter which shows me how deeply you care for others, for education, and for your pupils.

You describe very vividly how hard life is for mining families if the father should die. Most people shrug and say it’s the business of the Miners’ Union, or that a widow can always open a boarding house, but we both know the Miners’ Union only makes a one-time payment, and a widow with small children living in rented property can’t create a boardinghouse out of thin air. For women like that, their situation could quickly become extremely hard. Like you, I’m sure there are many children in Virginia City that might be successful in school but can’t attend because there isn’t enough money for food or clothes or shoes.

I certainly agree that education is the key for a better life for the individual, but also for the community. Others may believe that a Cartwright, hailing from a ranch which is called his  “Bonanza” would believe education is less a requirement for success than simply being at the right place at the right time.  But I can assure you if not for my father’s solid background in business he wouldn’t have been able to manage his ranch or make it so large. We both know how education and learning can increase one’s pleasure in life. What you have experienced is the same for me: without my Harvard graduation I could have been a rancher but as an engineer and architect I’m happier and I contribute more to my surroundings. And others, I hope, will make even more progress in all the sciences and medicine, create new vaccines like what was done for smallpox, or solve problems like yellow fever or blood poisoning—better ways to travel, faster means of communication—what limits are there to what eager-minded scientists may invent!

After you had stopped teaching, there was a boy here—maybe you knew his parents’ store; they were named Michelson, a family of poor German Jewish immigrants. Your replacement threw him out of school, so I coached him for a while. Now he is not only a graduate from Annapolis but also a teacher there and I think we will be hearing more from him in the course of time!

So I can only say that I agree with you completely: I hope and dream that in the future men, and women, of all races will have the chance to develop all their abilities, for their own happiness but also for a better community. And after all my traveling I can say we Americans have the best opportunity to do that. Europe has to support and obey its aristocracy, but we are free! We don’t have kings, but free speech, equality, and the government we choose! And the right to seek our happiness.

The recent war has left terrible scars on the nation but maybe within two or three generations all traces of slavery will be erased and our country can become what its constitution promises: a place where all people can be equal and happy, and its progress in science can give everyone a better life. Maybe there is still a large gap between those dreams and our reality, but I am convinced we shall come closer and closer to that ideal, especially if all our children study hard and esteem education.

I can and will spend money from my architecture firm for supplies for a steady meal for the pupils who need it. I believe the Ponderosa will also provide support and I think with a volunteer or two we can organize a meal each school day. I know the women’s clubs do charity work so together with them we can estimate how many we can help. As you said, it’s not so easy to do charity without damaging the pride of the recipients. Your approach, asking that the children for whom you cook do a little work for the school, but gradually having not only the poorest be helpers but in turn every student, is very good, I think. When my father was a young widower he never would accept charity. I know how it is!

I shall also sponsor, every year, a student from your school for miners’ children to attend high school, and I will search out others who will do the same.

For shoes and clothes I think a bazaar can be arranged. That’s something you can better organize than I can, but I can help spread the word about it.

So finally I would like to make you a proposal. Come to me in three weeks at my office here in Virginia City, after I’ve had the opportunity to speak with other interested people, and we can finalize our plans for what should be done and how.

And I would also like to invite you to the Ponderosa Christmas party, so we can celebrate our good work together!

Sincerely yours,

Adam Stoddard Cartwright

P.S.: I share your concern for the Paiutes and will help underwrite Sarah Winnemucca’s school.

P.P.S.: When Joe heard you are now reading “Tom Sawyer” with your students he ordered 30 copies for the school.

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Abigail let the letter sink to her lap. Now she was free to make her decision, but still not sure how she would decide. In any event, however, she could always teach (and feed) her children on Sundays in her home, as Hank would have suggested himself. She looked to the heavens and saw the first snowflakes come tumbling down. With all these good news for her pupils she thought with a grateful heart, what a good Advent is just starting, and told herself joyfully, “Let it snow!”

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I learned during my recherches to the background that the actor of Hank Myers was the singer and band leader Vaughn Monroe, the first interpret of:

“Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” https://share.google/0MX00mmDyxRXRnms1

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My prompt was: stirs the corn-meal with a practised hand

Persons given: Abigail Jones and Adam

Thank you for your big help, Sklamb!

Link to the Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar – Day 23 – Making New Memories While Remembering Christmases Past – Fanofoldtvshows