From England to Virginia: A Mail Order Bride Romance

By Doreen Milstead

A strong-minded black woman moves to Richmond, Virginia, to be with her new mail order husband, but she faces many lingering aftereffects and racism from the recently ended Civil War.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329780569

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From England to Virginia: A Mail Order Bride Romance

From England to Virginia: A Mail Order Bride Romance

By

Doreen Milstead

Copyright 2005 Susan Hart

Synopsis: A strong-minded black woman moves to Richmond, Virginia, to be with her new mail order husband, but she faces many lingering aftereffects and racism from the recently ended Civil War.

Richmond, Virgina

Shipping Dock

Tuesday, June 3, 1890

Dark brown skinned Ms. Laura Roy waited at the dock in Richmond, Virginia in a white day dress decorated with small brown looped embroidery that looked like tiny Christmas trees on the hem and full sleeves. Around her wrist was a strapped brown purse that matched the embroidery accents.

Cognac colored cupola boots matched the embroidery accents, too. Instead of carrying a parasol, Laura wore a big white ladies’ touring hat to block out the afternoon sun. An unfamiliar tinging, clanging sound rang in her ears. On the street, in the streets in particular, she noticed tracks in the ground.

Above the tracks were cable wires. What an odd lighting system, Laura Roy thought. She decided to ignore the sounds. Richmond, Virginia was a new place. Each new place had its own particular bent. She looked around again and reached into her brown purse pulling out several battered and dog-eared letters with a white string tied around them.

Nervous excitement began to set in. Not a scared nervousness, because Laura wasn't that type of twenty-seven-year-old girl. This anxiety bordered on anticipation of her dream goal coming true: Romance in a foreign country with a new man. She fingered through the letters to divide her attention from the many people passing by. 

Several white men, carrying newspapers that read The Times passed her. They did not tip their hats. Several white women cast a friendly but contemptuous eye in her direction. Laura didn't know quite what to make of the Richmond, Virginia natives’ reactions. Wasn't the Civil War over twenty-five years ago? From England, Laura heard tales of bloody fighting but that now blacks had a chance to own their own businesses in the south because of Reconstruction.

Her husband to be, an African American named Picford Milham, had been born in Georgia. He was thirty-five and served as a Sergeant in the 25th Black Infantry Regiment in the far away northern plains of Dakotas, Minnesota and Montana under Colonel John Andrews. Picford knew how to fight and defend himself with a weapon.

He was a traveler and Laura liked that best about him. He was open to possibly taking a trip back to her homeland, the Dominican Republic. She loved England too and left her mom there. But, being around more of her own people satisfied her heart and soul. The United States had more blacks--it was that simple.

Picford was a leader, goal oriented man. Picford brewed optimism. He believed you cannot deny truth. Reason prevailed over prejudice. Once whites learned about African Americans contributions to civilization all racial strife would end as well, Laura thought to herself.

Standing on the James River seaport at Richmond, Laura Roy remembered something disturbing about the Civil War. Richmond served as capitol for the Confederate