Doctor Morgan and His Twin Sons: White Wind and Theodore

By David P. Vorpahl

It is 1853, and Steven Morgan, a young doctor with theological training, feels a strong call to leave his medical practice in Connecticut and travel to the Oregon Territory, where he is sure doctors and spiritual leaders are both needed. When he meets Hannah Osborne, he falls in love instantlyand is delighted to learn she is willing to travel west with him.

Steven and Hannah marry and begin to make their traveling plans, only to find out before they set out the following year that Hannah is pregnant. In spite of this complication, they travel on the Oregon Trail with the Williams family, hoping to get to Oregon before the baby is due. Even so, halfway through their journey, Hannah gives birth to twin boys. Meanwhile, a group of Pawnee teenagers take advantage of the distraction to steal the groups horses and drive off the oxen. In the chaos, one of the newborns is taken by the Pawnee, while the other is left with the travelers.

Now two brothers will grow up in very different worlds, with very different familiesand only time will tell what will happen when fate brings them together again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491753798

David P. Vorpahl

David P. Vorpahl holds a PhD from Gonzaga University. This is his third published novel. He has also written plays for his church and short stories for his four children and seven grandchildren. He is retired and lives in Spokane, Washington, with his wife, Beverly.

Book preview

DOCTOR MORGAN AND HIS TWIN SONS

WHITE WIND AND THEODORE

Copyright © 2015 David P. Vorpahl.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction and any reference to historical events, real people or places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, places, or persons, living or dead, are coincidental.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-5380-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-5379-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014922009

iUniverse rev. date: 02/03/2015

Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

About the Book

Acknowledgements

I want to thank my family and friends for encouraging me to tell this story. I cannot thank my wife Beverly Smith Vorpahl, enough for the many hours of editing the novel. (She is the author of Goodly Wing, an America Foremother.) I also want to thank my daughter, Illa Davis, for helping me with my flagging computer skills and for also proofreading the book, as well as Janet Thomas, my other daughter; and a special thank you to my son, Tim, for his continuous support.

Chapter 1

Doctor Steven Morgan was home to visit his aging parents in Hamden, Connecticut, and to tell his parents his plans to go to the Oregon Territory.

After dinner one evening, he walked out to the back porch to think about his plans. He sat alone on the porch swing, thinking about leaving his family and friends for such a venture. I planned to leave once I finished theology, he thought as he was once again reviewing his planes. I’ve graduated from Yale Medical School and now about to graduate from its Theological College. But can I leave my aging parents and newly-established medical practice? Deep in thought, he was startled when his mother came out to be with him.

Rebecca was short and plump with gray hair rolled in a loose bun. Her bright smile and deep blue eyes expressed many of her son’s facial appearances.

Hello Mother, he said as he stood to greet her; his six-foot frame towering over her. She couldn’t help noticing how handsome he was, even though he was her son. His short blond wavy hair and closely trimmed sideburns helped frame his face. His deep blue eyes reflected a heart with a compassionate soul. His square jaw with its dimpled chin enhanced his smile. But it did not hide his troubled concerns from a loving mother.

It’s such a nice spring night, she said. I hope you don’t mine if I join you. You seem to be lost in thought. Maybe talking about what’s troubling you will help.

Maybe, Steven said with a sigh. I have almost finished my theology training and I’m debating with myself about going to the Oregon Territory.

Oh my goodness, she said with a slight moan. Why now? You have a good medical practice in New Haven. Your father and I are aging fast. I would like to see some grandchildren someday, and if you go out West I would never see them. I wish your dreams could be put on the cool side of the stove for a while. I think you should find a nice young lady and get married.

Steven smiled; the darkness kept his mother from seeing his face, but she felt his love as he took her hand.

Thanks for the advice, he said. It’s getting cold. Let’s go in and have a cup of tea with father and Uncle Theo.

Steven was the only son of Anthony and Rebecca Morgan. The only other family member was Uncle Theodore, his father’s brother. The two men could be taken for twins. Both were tall and muscular and each a bit overweight. They shared the same dark blue eyes and slightly graying hair. Uncle Theodore, called Theo by family and friends, had never married. He treated Steven like a son.

Pardon the interruption, Stephen said as he entered the room were Anthony and Theo was sitting. We came in to join you. Mother is fixing us some tea. She was trying to talk me out of going to Oregon; she thinks it’s time I find a wife, and stay with my medical practice. Steven laughed. Are we stopping some important discussion?

We were just reminiscing about old times, his father said.

We were talking about how we struggled to get the Morgan Brother’s Wagon Manufacturing Co. started, Theo said. We agreed your father would design the wagons, buggies, sleighs and carts. He also was the salesman, and I would manage the factory and the production process.

It was a good business arrangement, and a profitable one, Anthony said. We started out selling small wagons and carts to a number of small businessmen that peddled goods from house to house. It took about a year before our customers ordered farm wagons and carriages.

It was the War of 1812, and we landed a government contract for military wagons, and that became our largest customer, Theo added. Your father worked hard for that contract.

The military still needed wagons after the war and we were able to fill that need, Anthony said. When President Monroe lifted the blockades, the nation became more prosperous and farm wagons and carriages were once again in demand.

I have fond memories of working in the factory during the summer and after school, and learning the trade from Uncle Theo, Steven said. I love the smell of the sawdust, and the leather used on the carriages.

How did you get interested in the Oregon Territory, Theo asked, changing the subject.

We discussed Lewis and Clark’s expedition in class. I listened to the stories the traders, trappers and guides told of their adventures. I still hope to go some time. I’m sure they need doctors and preachers.

Rebecca walked in with a tray of tea and cookies. What have I missed, she asked.

Thanks for the tea and cookies, Anthony said. Steven is telling us about his wanting to go out west."

I remember your interest in medicine began after a factory accident when a heavy farm wagon slipped off its blocks and broke a man’s lower leg, Theo said.

Yes, when I saw the doctor’s skill in setting the man’s leg, I knew then that I wanted to become a doctor someday. Father, do you remember that night, years ago, at the dinner table, when I asked what does a person have to do to become a doctor?

I don’t recall. What did I say?

You said you didn’t know, but you wanted to know why I asked. I told you I watched Dr. Edmund fix Mr. Berg’s leg at the factory and I wanted to help people like that.

I don’t remember any of that conversation. his father said.

Anthony thought for a moment, looked at his wife, and then asked if she remembered any of the earlier conversation when Steven was a young boy.

No, but I do remember something about an accident at the factory some 13 or 14 years ago. Rebecca said. I think that’s around the time Steven started helping Dr. Edmund.

You told me that if I thought I was serious, I should talk to Dr. Edmund about it. You also said that when you went to pay Dr. Edmund you would ask him, Steven said.

I could hardly wait until dinner the next night, Steven said. I twitched and wiggled at the table, while you and mother discussed your days. The meal was almost over by the time you told me you talked to Dr. Edmund and that I should talk with him. So, the next day after school I went to his office. I was really nervous, but the first thing he said to me was that I was a big help when he set Mr. Berg’s leg. After we talked a while he said if I wanted to follow him while he worked, and if I still wanted to become a doctor, I could work with him until I enrolled in college.

We miss you hanging around the factory, Theo said, as he tampered new tobacco in his pipe. We always thought you would take over the business someday.

Steven waited for Theo’s two customary smoke rings.

I did miss working with you at the factory Uncle Theo, Steven said. You and the men there taught me a lot about building wagons, and it was fun working with the oxen and driving the ox wagon to the customers. I also learned a lot about medicine, working with Dr. Edmund. I worked hard as his apprentice. I sometimes went with him on difficult childbirth cases. You know that midwives are the main attendants to women in their travail and only call for a doctor if it’s a troubling birth, Steven said. Dr. Edmund was also very helpful getting me enrolled in Yale’s Medical School. Medicine has changed so much since Dr. Edmund’s training. I was taught the use and importance of the smallpox vaccine and how to vaccinate people. It was slow to be accepted in this county by many of the older doctors. The invention and use of the stethoscope, by a French doctor, found its way to America, and now we find it is a very valuable tool.

What are some to the other new practices that have improved medicine, his father asked.

"I believe the most important invention is the use of general anesthetic for surgery. It’s used to put people to sleep so they feel no pain during surgery. And, now we know, and have a basic understanding that some bacteria are the cause of many diseases. This knowledge made many new hygiene and public health measures, such as washing hands and cleaning surgery equipment. We use all of these medical treatments in our clinic in New Haven.

I’m sorry, Steven said. I seem to have dominated the conversation. I have enjoyed remembering some of my younger days, and talking about some of the things I learned in medical school. I think tomorrow I’ll visit Dr. Edmund, and then I’ll come and see you at the factory, Uncle Theo.

We are so proud of you, son, Rebecca said, trying to muffle a yawn. I think we need to go to bed, your father and Theo have to work tomorrow.

***

On the morning Steven was leaving for his home in New Haven, Rebecca said, Son, you know that your father and I will support you in whatever decision you make after your theology training, but I hope you will think about our conversation on the first night you were here.

Steven smiled and kissed his mother. I will. He hugged his father, mounted his horse and waved goodbye. As he rode home that afternoon, he couldn’t stop thinking about his parents and what his mother said about getting married. Maybe I should postpone my dream of leaving right after I graduate, but marriage just doesn’t fit into my plans right now.

Chapter 2

A month after Steven visited his parents came a knock on the door late one night that would change his life.

Just a minute, Steven said, thinking it was a patient, but upon opening the door, he cried out, Uncle Theo! What brings you to New Haven so late?

Even before Theo could answer, Steven realized he was not bringing good news. Theo was leaning against the door post, exhausted.

Come in, come in, Steven said as he helped him through the door. Sit here, he said and pulled out a chair from the table.

It’s your parents, Theo said in a shaky voice. They have both drowned.

What? How? They never go swimming or boating. Steven sat at the table and put his hands to his head. The news was so shocking it dried up a fountain of tears that would come later. How could it happen?

We don’t know for sure, Theo said. But they went for a buggy ride five days ago. It was a nice spring evening and they were driving along the river. The water was high and it undercut the road bank, and the weight of the buggy caused the road to give way. The buggy, horse and all fell into the rushing water. They found your mother and father yesterday, late in the afternoon. I came to tell you as soon as I heard their bodies were found. That’s why I got here so late.

***

A week after the funeral, Steven was still in Hamden. He and his uncle were having dinner together, and talking business over coffee. Uncle Theo, he said, I need to talk about my future, and you are the only relative I have now.

Yes, and you are mine, Theo said. I have been wondering what you might do now. I’m hoping you would stay in Hamden and open a medical practice here. You have this house with a nice office. It would have made your mother and father proud to have you live here.

I thought about staying. However, before my folks’ death, as you know, I was also thinking about going west to the Oregon Territory. The people there need doctors and spiritual leaders, and I’m about to finish my theology training.

Steven could see that Theo was upset and getting his thoughts together for a rebuttal.

Your house is here. Dr. Edmund is getting old, and the factory is half yours now, Theo said. He tapped his pipe on the table three times, stuffed in fresh tobacco and lit it again. Waiting for Steven to answer, he took two long puffs and finally blew out two smoke rings.

Finally, Steven said, I really feel I have been called by a higher power.

I understand what you mean by being called, Theo said, and when you put it that way, I can only give you my blessing. He paused to take a puff. We will have to work out some type of agreement about the factory. You know that someday it will be yours.

Uncle Theo, I don’t need the money. For now, you keep the factory and put my share into new developments. You and dad had been talking about new inventions that you think the factory should work into the wagon business.

Theo smiled. Yes, your father and I had been thinking of several projects we wanted to explore, and now, with the arrangement you have suggested, it would be possible.

Then that’s what we should do, Steven said. I’ll let you sell my parent’s house and furniture. I have tagged what I want to keep. If you will send them to New Haven, I’ll put them in storage. You can put the money in my trust fund. It will give me enough to get settled in New Haven or if I go to Oregon.

I have settled all of my financial and business obligations in town, Steven said. I’ll head home in the morning. I’ll go back to my medical practice at the clinic and my studies,

***

Home again; looking around in his small one-bedroom house, he began to mutter, where I’m I going to put all the furniture? If I go west, I’ll have to sell the house and my folks’ things, and I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do.

He was home only two days when he picked up the newspaper to read one evening while he fixed himself a cup of tea, After reading the local news and sports, he noticed an ad for a house close to the college and clinic. He put the paper down and picked up a book he had started to read before the news of his parents’ death.

I can’t stop thinking about that house, he said aloud. He put the book down and picked up the paper and read the information about it. He knew it was too large for him, and it wasn’t in his plans, but he seemed to be drawn to it.

After debating with himself for a few days he bought the house from an old sea captain’s estate.

It had eight bedrooms, a large dining room, a large living room, and a room just for a bathtub. In back, were three small houses for the helpers, he kept some of the captain’s furniture and had most of his folks’ furnishings transported from storage to his new home. He also kept the captain’s housekeepers: Sarah, the cook; Louretta, the housekeeper; and Samuel, who tended the yard and carriage, as well as Steven’s horses and coaches used for house calls and social travel.

The three young people were former slaves who fought their way to the north and were hired by the old sea captain.

I’ll have to write to Uncle Theo and tell him he will have a room of his own when he comes to visit," Steven thought as he and Samuel moved his folks’ furniture that had arrived from storage.

Chapter 3

The Rev. Adam Osborne was the only protestant minister in the small town of Hatberg, Connecticut. It was a five-mile buggy ride outside of New Haven. The sleepy village was where he and his wife Cecilia spent the past twenty years caring for the community’s religious needs and raising their two daughters, Hannah, 18, and Emily, 16. With no public schools available, the parents taught their daughters at home in religion, literature, the arts and social customs of the day. Hannah and Emily were free spirits, encouraged to explore and question the values of their world. Both girls had brown, doe-like eyes, long auburn hair, and curvaceous bodies that were not bound by the breath-inhibiting corsets worn by many young women of the day. Of course, the girls’ shapes caused resentment among young women their age who were tightly bound-up for an hourglass-looking body.

The Osborne’s daughters’ characteristics, as well as their physical attributes, attracted many of the town’s male suitors. It made the Rev. and Mrs. Osborne aware that one day, with or without their blessing, the girls would marry men of their own choice. He had no idea however, that one day he would be the instigator of his oldest daughter finding her fiancé.

Adam also taught theology classes at Yale College in New Haven, and at times invited students to preach in his church as part of their graduation requirements.

I have invited one of my students to deliver the sermon on Sunday morning, he told Cecelia. His name is Dr. Steven Morgan.

It was in his last month in the seminary school that Steven met the Rev. Osborne who had asked him to come to Hatberg and preach in his church.

After the service, he was invited to dinner at the Rev. Osborne’s and it was there that he met the daughters. He found Hannah, the oldest, to be a free spirit, charming, and beautiful. She seemed to have cast a spell on him that he had never experienced before, and he knew he wanted to see her again.

When he got home, he wrote to his uncle.

Dear Uncle Theo:

I have bought a large house in New Haven. Now when you come to visit you can have your own room.

I don’t want to shock you, but I do believe I have found the lady I would like to see again. She is the daughter of one of my professors.

She is so beautiful that words cannot describe her adequately. She has a free spirit; she’s wise, and her charm held me captive all afternoon. I was reluctant to leave. She is the oldest of the Osborne’s two daughters. After my sermon, Professor Osborne invited me to stay for dinner. I’m sure I stayed longer than was proper. Now it seems, I may have to put my dream of going to Oregon on hold if she will see me again, which I intend to find out soon. I hope you are in good health. Are the new improvements for the factory, working? I’ll keep you informed of my new adventure.

Your nephew.

Steven.

***

It was love at first sight when I first met you, Steven told Hannah one night when they were courting. However, their courtship progressed slowly. Steven was hesitant to tell her about his Oregon Territory plans.

One night, sitting on the Osborne’s front porch swing, Steven was determined to tell Hannah of his dreams and the need for doctors out west. He hoped they were out of the hearing range of Emily, who was pretending to be interested in the nearby garden flowers.

Hannah, he said with a quivering voice, we have been seeing each other for a few months now … and I’m sure you know that I love you.

Hannah smiled a loving glance but kept still. She kissed the end of her fan that meant, Yes, I love you, too.

Steven’s heart beat faster. He paused for a few seconds, and then blurted out, Hannah, I have not told you of my love, because I believe God has called me to serve in the Oregon Territory.

You will need a wife, Hannah replied instantly, loud enough for Emily to hear. You can’t go alone. Then, realizing what she had said, she felt her face turn red and hid her face behind her fan.

I would like you to be my wife, Steven said more assuredly. "Would you even consider such a move away from family and friends?

Yes, Hannah said. Yes to both questions. She leaned over and boldly kissed Steven on the cheek.

That evening, while everyone remained at the table, drinking coffee spiced with stimulating conversation, the couple announced their engagement. The news came as no surprise to the family, but they were dismayed at the migration planes. However, knowing their daughter’s freewill and their strong feelings for Steven, the Osborne’s bestowed their blessing.

Steven became a regular weekend visitor at the Osborne home for the remaining month while he finished his theology training. He also kept working at the clinic he had helped establish.

Steven’s letters to Theo increased as his love affair blossomed. Theo was not shocked when the letter came telling of their engagement. Nor the next letter a month later, telling of their wedding plans. However, Theo was surprised that Steven asked him to be the best man.

Chapter 4

A week before the wedding the dressmaker came to make the last adjustments on Hannah’s gown.

Mrs. Matson is here with your wedding dress, Cecilia said as she entered the girls’ room, followed by Mrs. Matson, who was huffing and puffing and complaining about having to climb the stairs. She wants you to try the dress on so she can make the last-minute adjustments.

Mrs. Matson was a short, over-weight woman with a big smile, weepy eyes, a runny nose and a large, generous heart. On the other side of the coin, she was also very superstitious

Good morning, Hannah, she said, gasping for breath. Climbing these stairs takes my breath away. She handed Hannah the dress. Please try it on, but don’t look in the mirror. It’s bad luck.

Emily laughed, looked at Hannah, and smiled. Now Mrs. Matson, she said, you don’t really believe that old folklore, do you? Hannah you look beautiful in that dress.

I’m not sure, but I can’t let Hannah sew on her dress either, because it could bring misfortune, Mrs. Matson said. She thought a moment, then added, There must be some truth to the sayings or people wouldn’t pass them on.

Are there folk-sayings for good fortunes, Emily asked with a wink and a smile, looking at Hannah.

Emily! her mother said sharply when she realized her daughter was teasing Mrs. Matson.

Oh, my yes, Mrs. Matson said as she pinned a tuck in the dress. I’m sure you have heard it’s good luck if you find a horseshoe on the road; that’s why you see so many horseshoes over people’s doors. It is also good luck if a bride wears orange blossoms, so I always give orange blossoms to the girls when I finish their wedding gowns. I have some for you, Hannah. My, you do look lovely in that gown. She stood back and looked at Hannah after finishing her last tuck.

Thank you, Hannah said, trying to hide a