The Adventures of Mz. Grundy Z. Leatherberry: Book 1 The Quest for Adventure

By Nancy Winniford

Have you ever wondered what life was like for young women a century and a half ago? Or wished your life had more adventure? Or at least some adventure? Have you ever wished you could travel far away and try new lifestyles? Do you enjoy stories about real-life struggles with a twist of humor?

If you can say yes to any of the above questions, this book is for you! Join Mz. Grundy on her journey to experience all the adventure she can find as she strikes out on her own and travels alone across the United States in 1875, on her way to her first job as a prairie schoolteacher!

In this first book of her series, Mz. Grundy reaches Chicago, Illinois, in her pursuit of excitement. On the way, she tries new exploits, such as riding on the back of a camel. Her mettle is tested when she careens down train tracks ten feet above street level. When Mz. Grundy finds herself in the gigantic metropolitan city of New York, surrounded by pressing crowds of people and pigs in the streets, she perseveres in her dream despite the discomfort of feeling as though she is a polar bear in a desert.

In her quest for new experiences, this naive young woman faces some terrific obstacles, but she learns and grows as she bravely overcomes her fears and forges ahead. Her story is told with mirth and warmth, making her a young heroine with whom we can all relate. Come along and join her as she conquers her fears and advances into new territory!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798888324127

Book preview

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The Adventures of Mz. Grundy Z. Leatherberry

Book 1 The Quest for Adventure

Nancy Winniford

ISBN 979-8-88832-411-0 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88832-413-4 (hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-88832-412-7 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Nancy Winniford

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.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

A Dictionary of Mz. Grundy's Words and Phrases

Boston in 1875

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 A Bold Plan!

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 A Very Bad Development

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Harder than She Thought

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Bedazzled and Frightened

New York City, Fabulous Center Where Dreams Come True

Immigrants in New York City

Brooklyn Bridge

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Survival in Five Points

The Five Points Neighborhood

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Easier Said than Done

Elevated Trains

The Pennsylvania Railroad

Philadelphia

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Cousin Calamities

The 1876 Centennial Celebration of the USA

Baldwin Locomotive Works

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Hero for a Day

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Capital City

Altoona, the Train Town

The Horseshoe Curve

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Sidetracked!

Pittsburgh, the Smoky City

Chicago in 1875

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 What Should Mz. Grundy DO?

Raising Chicago

This is the close of Book 1, The Adventures of Mz. Grundy Z. Leatherberry: The Quest for Adventure. The story will be continued in Book 2, The Quest for Adventure Continues. If you have any ideas as to what Mz. Grundy should do, write me!

Nancy Winniford

8006 Sandy Circle

Anchorage, AK 99507

Or email me through the contact page of this website: https://www.mzgrundy.com/contact.

Appendix

Who Was Matthias Baldwin?

Who Was John Edgar Thomson?

What Are Inclined Planes?

The Chicago Water Tunnel

Photo Bibliography

History Bibliography

Boston, page vii

New York City, page 10

Immigrants in New York City, page 12

Brooklyn Bridge, page 15

Five Points Neighborhood, page 20

Elevated Trains, page 26

Pennsylvania Railroad, page 30

Philadelphia, page 33

The 1876 Centennial Celebration, page 37

Baldwin Locomotive Works, page 40

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Capital City, page 48

Altoona, the Train Town, page 50

The Horseshoe Curve, page 52

Pittsburgh, the Smoky City, page 56

Chicago in 1875, page 60

Raising Chicago, page 64

Who Was Matthias Baldwin? page 67

Who Was John Edgar Thomson? page 69

What Are Inclined Planes? page 71

The Chicago Water Tunnel, page 74

About the Author

A Dictionary of Mz. Grundy's Words and Phrases

Mz. Grundy spoke with a country dialect, so here is a dictionary for the reader as the book is written in this dialect.

A

A-goin' = Going

A-gonna = Going to

Ain't never = Hadn't ever, hasn't ever

Alas = An expression of woe

B

C

C'mon = Come on

Cockamamie = Crazy

D

Dadgum = Old term meaning darn or doggone

Don'tcha = Don't you

E

'Em = Them

F

Fer = For

Figger = Figure

G

Gal = Girl

Growed = Grown

H

I

Ideer = Idea

In' = Most words ending in -ing will have an apostrophe in place of the final g

Inta = Into

J

Jist = Just

K

L

Lit = Ran

M

Mz. Grundy = I made this quirk for Mz. Grundy's title because where my aunt and uncle lived when I was a child, people ran the words Miss and Missus together and just called every woman Miz. I just shortened that to Mz.

N

O

Off'n = Off of

Ol' = Old

Old maid = Older, unmarried female

Outta = Out of

P

Q

R

S

Shore enough = Sure enough

Skeered = Scared

T

Ta = To

Thinkin' = Thinking. Most words ending in -ing will be like this, with an apostrophe instead of the final g

Thunk = Thought

Tweren't = It wasn't

U

V

W

Was = Often used in place of were in this book

What in tarnation? = Old-fashioned way of saying What in the world?

Whatsa = What's the

X

Y

Ya = You

Z

Boston in 1875

Boston, Massachusetts, is a city with a long and rich history, being instrumental in the birth of the United States as a nation. Having begun as one of the original settlements of English colonists in New England, the name was changed from Shawmut Peninsula to Boston in 1630. Since Boston was at an excellent location for a deepwater seaport, it grew and flourished. A large number of Revolutionary War events occurred there, including the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, protests over taxes levied by England, the Siege of Boston, Paul Revere's famous rides to warn of the British troops' arrival, and several battles (those at Bunker Hill, Concord, and Lexington).

One problem early settlers faced was that there were many coves and bays that were part of the waterfront. The numerous creeks and rivers needed bridges, making transportation from one section of the town to another more difficult. Settlers began altering the land by filling in these bays with land from the hills in Boston, a process that also turned the hills into level ground. This process went on for over two centuries, until Boston had increased its mass of land from 783 acres to 1,829! Another way of increasing the size of Boston was annexing the surrounding towns, and by 1874, seven towns were added. By 1900, the city had been expanded to thirty times its original size.

A movement to end slavery in the United States was birthed and nurtured in Boston. Antislavery societies began there in the 1830s, and several publications opposing slavery were birthed. Most businessmen favored tolerating the evil of slavery in order to protect their financial well-being, so conflict between them and the societies was natural. The businessmen began to threaten the leaders of the antislavery movement, and eventually, a mob of well-dressed men attempted to kidnap and tar and feather a speaker they thought was scheduled to address the Boston Female Antislavery Society. However, he was not even in town, so they grabbed William Lloyd Garrison, who published The Liberator, an antislavery magazine. The mayor was able to save both him and the ladies from the crowd, but the antislavery movement began to really grow as a result of this and other events because the public was angered by the tactics of the businessmen. During the Civil War, the two sides unified to save the country, and the governor of Massachusetts raised up the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Infantry, Colored, a regiment of African Americans. The people cheered as they marched off.

The fishing industry was the largest and longest industry pursued at the Boston Harbor, and Boston's codfish were considered the best. While fish were a favored food of Bostonians, they had several other favorites: baked beans, brown bread, hulled corn, and New England boiled dinner, a dish consisting of meat simmered with vegetables, including potatoes, cabbage, and carrots.

Eight railroads radiated out from Boston in the 1860s and 1870s, going both west and to all of New England. Each railway had its own ticketing system and its own station, so travelers had to pick the right one to get where they wished to go. Freight was moved from the west and New England to Boston's port by rail, so a railway to connect the different rail lines and the port was built in 1872. Still, the idea of putting all the rail stations at one or two spots didn't occur until the end of the century!

Boston is a resilient city, and it grew amazingly in the 1860s and 1870s. From having a bit over 250,000 citizens in 1860, it grew to nearly 363,000 by 1870! Today, Boston is still thriving.

Court Street in Boston (1870)

Introduction

Mz. Grundy Z. Goodwin was eighteen years old in 1875, and she wasn't married yet. When she eventually married, her last name changed ta Leatherberry. She was born near Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up there. Although Boston was a large modern city, there was still rural areas around it, and Mz. Grundy lived in one of the small farmin' communities. While the farms was neat and trim, they was pretty tiny, and the soil had been depleted by earlier poor farming practices. Any time a farmer had several sons, he'd divide his land up between them when he died, so some of 'em was downright teensy. That meant they produced very little, so most farmers and/or their wives had small businesses as well as their farms. Most farmers was not wealthy, and if they had a lot of kids (like Mz. Grundy's folks), they tended ta be poor.

Ta Mz. Grundy's way of thinkin', she lived in the most borin' place on earth. Every day the same ol' flies perched on the same ol' horses, and the same ol' people did the same ol' things. Wagon wheels made ruts in the roads, and she felt like her life was stuck in one of 'em. An' here she was, goin' on nineteen and still not married yet! It was a cryin' shame!

Mz. Grundy never had been one of those gals that loved knittin' or crochet. A tea party just meant sittin' around listenin' ta other gals jabberin' about the young men they admired, which was not very interestin' ta Mz. Grundy. Her daddy ran a livery stable, and whenever she could, Mz. Grundy loved ta ride over meadows and through forests as fast as she could. Most of her time each day was spent doin' chores at the stable, and most of those chores was connected ta carin' fer the horses her father rented out: cleanin' stalls, groomin' horses, cleanin' up after what the horses left on their driveway and grounds, cleanin' up carriages that had been rented out, feedin' the cows and horses, and milkin' the cows each mornin' and evenin'. Life seemed the same every day.

What was lackin' in her rural town was excitement! Adventure! New experiences! Mz. Grundy longed for somethin'—anythin'—to make life more interestin'!

Well, one day, she hit on an ideer that might jist do it! Ya see, ever since she was a sweet young thing, Mz. Grundy had been readin' dime novels about