This Was Their Time

By Diane Campbell Green

They were American families of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They settled in Bristol, Pennsylvania, seeking a better life. Times were sometimes prosperous, sometimes not. They lived with the same issues we do in the twenty-first century-immigration, substance abuse, and the emerging role of women in society. Take a look back and enjoy the characters: Sallie-daughter, wife, and mother; a seamstress. William-her husband, inspector of garbage collection. Robert and Nathan-Civil War veterans. And Bessie-a rascal of sorts. This was their time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781646705115

Book preview

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This Was Their Time

Diane Campbell Green

ISBN 978-1-64670-510-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64670-511-5 (digital)

Copyright © 2020 Diane Campbell Green

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher.

For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Contents

Family Trees 5

Sallie and William 7

The Speech 9

Tea 13

The Wedding 16

Settling in Bristol 1868 19

The English Immigrants 21

Migration 23

Boom and Bust 25

Prosperity 27

Depression, 1882 29

The Veterans 33

Grand Army of the Republic 35

A Hint of Scandal 39

Herr Fredrich Wentzel 41

Change for Women 45

1884 47

John Robert and Bessie 51

The Courtship 53

The Marriage 55

Natural Disasters 59

The Flood of 1886 61

The Blizzard of 1888 63

Principles of Conduct 67

Temperance 69

Holiday Reprieve 71

Christmas 1888 73

Women at Work 75

Another Wedding 1890 77

Bessie 1891 79

Justice 83

John Chase 1903 85

Pestilence 89

Consumption 1904 91

Resilience 95

Friends and Politics 1906 97

The Panic of 1907 99

Mary Mabel Albright (Postscript) 101

Sources 105

About the Author 110

Table of Contents

Family Trees

Sallie and William

The Speech

Tea

The Wedding

Settling in Bristol 1868

The English Immigrants

Migration

Boom and Bust

Prosperity

Depression, 1882

The Veterans

Grand Army of the Republic

A Hint of Scandal

Herr Fredrich Wentzel

Change for Women

1884

John Robert and Bessie

The Courtship

The Marriage

Natural Disasters

The Flood of 1886

The Blizzard of 1888

Principles of Conduct

Temperance

Holiday Reprieve

Christmas 1888

Women at Work

Another Wedding 1890

Bessie 1891

Justice

John Chase 1903

Pestilence

Consumption 1904

Resilience

Friends and Politics 1906

The Panic of 1907

Mary Mabel Albright (Postscript)

Sources

About the Author

Family Trees

JAMES FAMILY

Theophilus and Elizabeth Penfound

Child of Theophilus and Elizabeth

Elizabeth Bessie James

Part One

Sallie and William

The Speech

The city of Philadelphia teemed with anticipation in the warm April afternoon, a Friday, about six months before the presidential election of 1880. Sarah Jane Chase, affectionately known as Sallie, and her father, Robert Chase, were making preparations to attend a campaign rally on lower Spring Garden Street. It was fifteen years after the end of the great Civil War, and the country was still polarized. The southern half being mostly Democratic and the northern half mostly Republican.

Father, Senator Roscoe Conkling will begin the rally and the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher will follow, Sallie said. Reverend Beecher was a fiery speaker well-known for his support of the abolition of slavery. Sallie knew Beecher’s words might not fall favorably on her father. She attempted a conciliatory question, Father, I know that you fought with the 1st Virginia Regiment during the Mexican War, and I know you found yourself fighting against other veterans of the 1st Virginia Regiment who chose to join the confederate army when the war between the states began. Why did you choose the Union Army?

Unsure of how much to tell his daughter, he began, "Sallie, the foreign war with Mexico was not a popular war. I joined the 1st Virginia Regiment when volunteers were called for in Philadelphia. There were fifty of us who joined from Philadelphia. I was eighteen years old. My duty was to clean the tack of Gen. Winfield Scott.

I admired General Scott greatly. Well, you know that your brother is named Winfield Scott Chase even though he calls himself John. When General Scott joined the Union Army, I followed his lead. Robert hesitated but continued, I wanted to fight for the Union—not to abolish slavery. Many of us did.

Robert knew Sallie was naïve. He protected her