The Bachelor in the Big River Bottom
A widow tries to snag a wealthy bachelor, only to find the man she’s been bossing around is the landlord she was trying to impress.
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.
Mrs. Sparrowgrass visited the Widow Snapwell to share news that the old Buttonwood place had been purchased by a Mr. Flowerdale. Intending to turn an honest penny, the Widow Snapwell decided to answer an advertisement for country board placed by this 'bachelor' in the Big River Bottom. She quickly set about preparing her spare bedroom and ordered her hired hand, Sy Hedges, to install new shelves in the pantry. Flowerdale soon arrived and took the room. One morning, the widow heard Sy Hedges complaining to her niece, Eustachia, about the cold in the attic, and she sharply reprimanded them both for talking. Later, when the widow went out, she instructed Eustachia to show Flowerdale to the 'best room' should he arrive. When the widow returned, she was horrified to find Sy Hedges sitting in her best chair with a book. 'Where is Mr. Flowerdale?' she demanded. 'At your service, madam,' replied Sy, explaining he had a fancy to see how his neighbors lived as a poor man. The widow’s plans for a wealthy marriage vanished, but her niece Eustachia—who had long admired the hired hand—married Mr. Flowerdale before the month was out and they moved to the old Buttonwood place.
“Poor girls like you had best attend to their work, and if Providence wants you to marry, He’ll give you a chance.”
The social pressure on 'old maids' to secure financial stability through marriage was a common trope in 19th-century domestic narratives. Today, while the economic necessity of such unions has evolved, the 'renter vs. landlord' dynamic remains a central, often tense, feature of Seattle’s housing landscape.
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