A Heartfelt Greeting at the Waterfront
A young woman travels across the country to marry a man she has never met, meeting him for the first time at the Seattle wharf.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
One of the passengers on the Dakota yesterday was a young lady from the east, whose object in coming to this country was to marry a man she had never seen. They had become acquainted through friends and by letters, and after a protracted pen, ink and paper courtship had concluded to chance matrimony. The man was on the wharf to receive her, accompanied by the lady's friends. She duly came ashore, and, after a general and very hearty handshaking, and a proper amount of 'bussing,' she was introduced to her intended husband. They stood off a moment, each taking a good look at the other, and then with a little glad cry she sprang into his outstretched arms, and for a minute or two there was some of the most rapturous hugging and kissing yet done on this townsite. The couple were apparently oblivious of the crowd of strangers surrounding them, and, seeming immensely pleased with each other, went off up town. Rumor has it they will be married today.
“They stood off a moment, each taking a good look at the other, and then with a little glad cry she sprang into his outstretched arms.”
This scene of a mail-order marriage at the docks reflects the transient, frontier nature of 1880s Seattle. Today, our digital 'pen, ink and paper' courtships often follow similar trajectories, though they now culminate in rideshares rather than ferry arrivals.
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