Chapter 6: Courting Mabel

The ladies went upstairs to take a nap before the ball. Men were expected to stay awake all day and night. I conversed with other men I saw at church, and they were polite, asking about my family. My sister Harriet had another baby boy this summer, and my brother Beau was engaged to his sweetheart. My sister Daisy was living with her overseer-husband on a nearby plantation and enjoying tea with the mistress. My sister Sarah was invited to a tea party by her mother-in-law after she received a trunk of books from London. My mama was invited to tea by the new neighbor, Mrs. Davenport, who moved into the tenant acreage next door, owned by Dr. Tyler, who lives in Hillsborough. She and her husband have ten children and arrived from Roseville, where Mr. Davenport worked at the grain elevator after a bank foreclosed on their farm during last year's panic. They will be coming to our church on Sunday. Their last church was ten miles to the south of Roseville, near Walnut Grove, where the younger Mr. Thompson’s sister, Mrs. Bagley, lives. Mrs. Bagley was at the barbecue and spoke about her daughter’s husband, who owned the Walnut Grove Bank. He requested support during the Panic when forced to call in loans to replenish the gold and silver coins in the safe. Mr. Bagley, who owned a paddleboat and received a military pension from the War of 1812, agreed to a loan of coins to support the bank to be repaid when the planters invested instead of withdrawing funds. I heard much gossip about their ladies and other men. John Thompson was said to be purchasing town lots in Hillsborough to build rental houses for extra income. As supper was served in the dining room, the ladies enjoyed roasted beef with carrots, celery, and potatoes in the garden gazebo. The apple brandy was poured into the punch bowl with cranberries and lemon rinds. The slave footmen walked around every hour with drinks on wooden tea boards in complete silence unless someone requested a tray of drinks be brought to their table. Then they replied with a simple “Yessur” or “Yes’m”. No maidservants served drinks or food. I could see them looking out of the window or gazing down from the upstairs staircase. I could hear the cook in the summer kitchen shouting to the kitchen maids. I wonder if I married Mabel, whether slaves would come with her, or if I was expected to purchase house servants for her. It would be years before I could buy a slave.

“Miss Thompson,” I began.

“Yes, Mr. Tilby?” Mabel inquired.

“I wondered if I am not only expected to provide a house, but also to provide house servants. I do not have the money to buy slaves.” I asked as I took a seat next to her.

“Do not worry yourself about servants. You concern yourself with purchasing a farm to build another distillery building, then a farmhouse, and let me worry about any servants.” replied Mabel.

“Another distillery?” I inquired.

“Yes, you need a separate income from your family to support our family,” answered Mabel.

“Yes, of course. Papa and I can combine our labor to work on both farms and use the harvest from our respective farms in the distilleries. I would remain his sales manager and bookkeeper. We could make it work out” I thought out loud.

“Sounds like a good plan,” she replied.

Around nine o’clock, I went upstairs to change for the ball with the men. Their valets helped them get their formal suits on. The guest rooms were quite crowded with changing guests, and I found my way to the master bed chamber where the elder Mr. Thompson was changing in his dressing room with his valet.

“My apologies, Mr. Thompson. I was looking for a less crowded guest room to change for the ball.” I spoke, looking downward.

“No apologies necessary, my dear boy. Come in and change for the ball. Let me see how my son’s evening coat fits you.” he reacted.

I changed into the trousers and evening coat Mabel had altered to wear the same white shirt and faded red waistcoat. I gazed into the mirror to straighten my cravat.

“Very good fit, my boy, but for your first ball, you need a new waistcoat. Here, have one of mine. You may keep it if you like it; I have others.” replied Mr. Thompson.

“Thank you, sir.” I reacted while changing into his yellow silk waistcoat.

“Darling Mabel likes yellow daffodils and reading Gothic novels. There, I think you look smart enough to dance at the ball. A handsome diamond in the rough.” spoke Mr. Thompson.

“Yellow daffodils? Gothic novels? I will try to remember that.” I said.

We stepped out into the hall, and Mabel was also leaving her chamber in a yellow silk and white lace gown with short sleeves puffed out. Her jewels were a topaz necklace with matching earbobs and a cameo brooch. Her braids shaped her face and coiled around her high bun, and flowers were placed in her hair. Her long white silk gloves held a fan.

“Do I look acceptable, Mr. Tilby?” inquired Mabel.

“You’re breathtaking,” I said with a loud exhale, gazing at the goddess standing before me.

“Your suit fits you well, sir. Is that Grandfather Thompson’s waistcoat?” she inquired.

“Ah, yes. He said I should wear a different waistcoat for my first ball, and I could keep it. Do I look presentable?” I inquired.

“You look like a gentleman to me, Mr. Tilby.” she answered.

“And you look like Queen Esther,” I replied.

I offered my arm, and she took it without a further word. We walked down the stairs and found our way to the hall that led to the ballroom. Ballrooms usually had small, narrow hallways leading to them, keeping the music from disturbing the sleeping occupants upstairs. The orchestra from Smithfield played, and a footman held a basket of dance cards. Mabel instructed me to grab two dance cards.

“What are these?” I asked Mabel.

“They are dance cards. The dances are printed, and with the pencil, you write your name beside the dance listed on your partner’s dance card.” explained Mabel.

“May I have the pleasure of reserving the first dance with you, ma’am?” I begged.

“You may, sir.” replied Mabel.

We danced a Virginia Reel, and I signed my name on her dance card while she signed mine. The evening was magical. I was wary of keeping my distance from Mabel, so as not to stir jealousy in men wanting to ask her to dance. I asked a few of Mabel’s younger cousins to dance to find them receptive. I could not dance with Mabel’s friends because they were married, and single men do not ask married ladies to dance. I found her friend Agnes and asked her to dance. She was surprised I approached her when so many men rejected her because of her pockmarks. I smiled and said I would be honored to dance with Mabel’s dear friend. We danced to a mazurka, and she danced graciously. She said she taught etiquette and dancing at the academy. I explained that I helped run my papa's distillery. At the end of the dance, I signed her dance card, and she signed mine. I heard conversations about how Mabel should be sending out wedding invitations by now, and wondered what happened. Mabel’s friends and relatives explained the dissolution of the engagement after Election Day. Mrs. Thompson spoke about a few suitors asking permission to court Mabel, so all hope was not lost. I wondered who these rivals were. At midnight, the supper room opened, and I fetched a plate of fruit tarts for Mabel along with a piece of spice cake. Footmen walked with tea trays full of champagne glasses between dances. I enjoyed a plate of cold ham and a bowl of hearty stew while sitting in the parlor. When I was finished, I poured a glass of brandy punch. I viewed footmen picking up dishes from the furniture. Around four in the morning, I became tired and bid farewell to Mabel by kissing her hand. I thanked the hostess for the wonderful evening. I walked down to Beau’s cabin with my Sunday clothes in my satchel, where everyone was sleeping. Our carriage was in the carriage house, and the horses were in the stable. Zachary was on a pallet set on the floor, and there was an empty one for me. I had sweet dreams of Mabel. After breakfast with Beau, Zachary drove us home.

Reviewing the books with the elder Mr. Thompson, Papa and I agreed I could earn around fifteen dollars per month as a sales manager and bookkeeper. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a goose Papa shot while we were hunting. The harvest was a sad one, with agricultural prices plummeting, and one farmer friend was on the edge of bankruptcy. I offered him a job at the distillery making apple brandy and cheese. The lower prices helped us buy more grain for the distillery, but our neighbors were hurt by it when they sold it at the grain elevators, which in turn was sold around the state and the country. Most cotton planters learned to diversify their crops, and we were no different. We kept most of our grains for ourselves, grinding them into flour at the grist mills or fermenting them into liquor. After a year of recovery from the panic, a depression began to set in that was worse than the recession the year before. My sister Clara was confirmed at church to move out into my sister Sarah’s rental home to find work as a kitchen maid at the Smithfield Inn. She helped Sarah with the household chores and cooked wonderful meals that the children adored.

The first public schools were authorized by law and would begin opening in January. Each township had a school district and was governed by a school board elected by the parents to attempt to build one country school per square mile where children lived. Each town had its own public school. My five youngest siblings, ages nine through thirteen, were eager to attend the new public school. They had read through the reading primers, mathematics books, spelling books, and writing books they sold in town dry goods shops on their own with little oversight. They could read the Bible Pastor Bunston gave us, and Mama purchased a few novels. The country school nearest us had hired a new teacher from Hillsborough who had just passed the normal schoolteacher exam at Roseville. She was a Roman Catholic, and an elected Protestant school board requested that her lesson plans be wary of her converting her pupils. She was said to stand up during the interview to claim that the only religious aspects of her lessons were the morning prayers that would be recited in English, not in Latin. The school board requested that she have the children perform orations for their parents at the end of the spring semester and direct a Christmas Play at the end of the autumn semester. She agreed to the terms of her employment. She visited the planter houses to borrow books for geography and to teach German, since so many German immigrants were around. Mrs. Thompson recommended a book on etiquette to Miss Taylor. She was grateful to borrow it until she could purchase her own books for the school. She played the piano and church organ to plan to teach music note reading. Mrs. Thompson let her borrow sheets of music by Beethoven, Mozart, Gluck, and Schubert. The Spring Semester began in March and lasted two months. My siblings walked to school together with a lunch pail with salted pork, potatoes to heat on the stove, cornbread, and hard-boiled eggs. They returned home with stories of what they learned. Several families in the area spoke German, and they learned the German days of the week. Then they learned about George Washington fighting the British to win independence for America. A few battles they knew already from their grandfathers, who fought in them. Mama was interested in all the things they learned at school.

My family and I celebrated Easter at church. Mabel brought a lemon cake, and Cossette brought chicken and dumplings. Mama brought hot cross buns. Mabel mostly stood near me and took my arm to walk down to the creek to stand on the bridge. I told her I bought a new bonnet for her from my sister, one of silk, feathers, and rolled paper roses. We walked back to the church, and I took the bonnet from our carriage. Mabel admired it and placed it back in the hatbox. My younger siblings were happy to win prizes in the egg rolling and egg tossing. The men played a Base Ball game. I was on John Thompson’s team. He was the pitcher, and I was the first baseman. We also joined the horseshoe tournament. Mr. Wilson won the tournament to win a rifle, and the elder Mr. Thompson was in second place to win a pocket watch. Mama took an Easter basket to fill with food to take home. She loved Mrs. Thompson's cherry pie. We had Easter supper at our house with my grandparents. Mama cooked smoked ham, hard-boiled eggs, mashed potatoes with ham gravy, stuffed celery, and sweet potato pie. My sister Mary Jane played the piano, and we danced a jig in the parlor. I went to bed with sweet dreams of Mabel. Zachary said I said her name in my sleep.

The Spring Semester ended for my younger siblings, and they had their families gathered at the school to hear the students’ orations with a theme of Greek literature. We heard speeches on Plato, Aristotle, the Spartan Army, Athenian democracy, the Olympics, Alexander the Great, and one child recited a speech from Demosthenes. My sister Mary Jane recited a speech on Helen of Troy, starting the Trojan War. My brother Henry spoke about King Leonidas fighting the Persians. My sister Maggie May gave her speech on Socrates and Athens being sacked by Sparta. My brother Herman chose the Labors of Heracles as his speech subject. The youngest, Amos, who could barely write, simply read a paragraph from “The Iliad” about Achilles and an Amazon queen. Strange it was to hear Achilles falling in love with the queen’s beauty and courage, just as he killed her, to weep over her death. Then the children took a bow to receive copies of “The Iliad” to enjoy during their break. Mabel once gave me a copy of “The Iliad” when she was teaching me. During the Fourth of July, I danced with Mabel at the Smithfield assembly in the park gazebo. She held my hand as the fireworks exploded. The spectacle was bigger than what her grandfather had set off at the inn. We returned to the Thompson inn to enjoy the dance in the assembly room until dawn. We brought in the harvest by renting threshing machines from the cooperative in Smithfield.

At the county fair, we showed much of our livestock. I received a third-place ribbon for my sow. Mama won a First-Place Ribbon for her peonies. Mabel won Second Place in the Ladies' Horse Race. Then there was outrage when the judges thought the lady who rode the most ladylike should win, not the lady who finished first. After much shouting about how the lady who finished fourth should not win the first-place ribbon, the judges awarded the lady who finished first the First-Place ribbon, who was Mabel’s friend Agnes. The Autumn Semester at the public school began in September. Mama enjoyed listening to what they were learning. This semester’s history lessons were about the Roman Empire. In November, they began practicing for the Nativity Play. My siblings practiced the hymns at home as I played the piano. They performed the play at the Eagle Creek Baptist Church on the first Sunday of Advent in the late afternoon. The teacher played the pipe organ. The children recited their lines eloquently. My siblings then began practicing our church’s Nativity Play that was presented on the last Sunday of Advent. Mabel played the pipe organ as the children sang the hymns.