Mercer Girls
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The Mercer Girls or Mercer Maids refers to the 1860's project of Asa Shinn Mercer, an American who lived in Seattle, who decided to "import" women to Pacific Northwest.
When the town of Seattle was new, it attracted hordes of men to work in the timber and fishing industries, but very few marriageable women were willing to move the remote Northwest corner of the United States. Only one adult out of ten was a women and most girls over fifteen were already engaged. White men and women of Salish tribes did not always feel mutually attracted. Even prostitutes were scarce until the arrival of John Pennell and his brothel from San Francisco.
In 1864, Asa Mercer decided to go east to find wives. Mercer had public support even from the governor but state could not offer any money. So Mercer talked to some of the desperate men who gave unspecified amount of cash from their own pockets. Mercer proceeded to travel to Boston and later to textile town of Lowell. From Lowell Mercer recruited 11 young women willing to move to the other side of the country. They traveled back through Panama isthmus, although in San Francisco some of the locals tried to convince the girls to stay there instead. They arrived to Seattle in May 16 1864 where local men staged a grand welcome.
Many of the women were married in short order, except one who unexpectedly died. Marcer was elected to Territorial Legislature.
Mercer decided to try again in larger scale and again collected donations from willing men. He asked for $300 to bring a suitable wife, received hundreds of applications and tried in 1867. However, in the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination, his next trip to East coast went wrong until speculator Ben Holladay promised to transport the potential ladies. However, the New York Herald had found out about the project and wrote that all the women were destined to waterfront dives or wives of old men. Authorities in Massachusetts were not sympathetic, either.
By the time Mercer was to depart with his new charges in January 6 1868, he had fewer than hundred recruits, when he had promised five times that much. The ship sailed for the West Coast around the Cape of Good Hope.
Three months later the ship stopped in San Francisco and captain refused to go any further. Mercer failed to convince him otherwise and when he telegraphed to Washington governor Pickering to ask for more money, governor could not afford it. Finally he convinced number of crews of the lumber schooners to transport them for free. Few of the women still decided to stay in California instead.
When Mercer returned to Seattle, he had to answer number of malign rumors about his performance. In a meeting in May 23 he consoled the public, possibly also because the ladies were with him.
Mercer ended up marrying one of the women, Annie Stephens, a week later and others found husbands as well.
The descendants of the Mercer Girls still make up a significant portion Seattle's citizenry.
External links and references
- mercergirls.com (http://www.mercergirls.com/)
- Seattle news site (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/42955_ordway16.shtml)