The Widowed Matron

I can see it now if I was a woman of the 1870s. Chances are my name would be Victoria Taylor and I would have lived in the great state of Texas. I would have been born sometime in the 1840s, so I would have been close to middle age for a woman then. The likelihood of both my parents being alive were very slim back then, with it more likely that my father outlived my mother. I may or may not have siblings, with the chances running closer to only one or two full siblings and several half-siblings, especially if my father remarried after my mother passed away before him.

What we are concentrating on is the year 1870. It's five years after the Civil War, which my husband would have fought in for the entire four years. Chances were slim that my husband comes back at all and if he does, he surely will be a cripple for the rest of his life, unable to support us. Since I don't come from weak ancestors, I don't do what many women in my position would do. Most would either give up or turn to prostitution, but not me. My moral fiber won't allow me to be a prostitute and I would refuse to allow my four children to grow up on the charity of the community.

So I would turn my house in Weatherford, Texas, into a boardinghouse, combine my children two to a room, and rent out my extra rooms. I'd become so well off, I could afford to purchase the properties next to mine, and add on to my boardinghouse until I had not only the largest one in Texas but the finest. My stables would house the finest stock for hundreds of miles. The gardens would be the talk of the town, with the most perfect rose blooms.

Not only would my children help out in the running of the hotel, but they would attend the finest school my money could buy. My daughters would attend etiquite classes. Both my sons and daughters would attend dance classes. All my children would be excellant horsemen and be able to shoot a gun.

Eventually, I'd be able to afford a huge staff to take care of the manual labor of boardinghouse. I'd have two cooks, so each could take two alternating days off a week. The cooks would have a local girl to assist them when the other cook was off. The gardens would have three gardeners. The stables would have four stableboys and head groom. There'd also be a Housekeeper with five local girls to help her keep the rooms clean, plus the three laundress with their four local girls to help.

Then with my children to fill in where they were needed, I would have more time to entertain the guests. All my children would be able to play instruments and/or sing, but I'd also have singers and actors come in to perform for my guests. I'd spend my time looking to improve the comforts of my clientale.

My boardinghouse would be the first in the county to have running water and indoor plumbing. The decor would be the finest of the century, with abundant velvet and damask material. The paintings would include famous artworks from such as Henry Thomas McArdle and Thomas Eakins.

I would never remarry, not because I loved my husband, but because I would become to independant to be tied down again. Plus I was tired of the controlling ways of my husband, and would never allow a man to order me around like a piece of property again. I will probably take a lover, who would have to be a manly man, possibly a Texas Ranger, who I would only have to see when he was passing through.

My clientale would come from many walks of life. From cattle drovers stopping in for a long hot bath and a clean, soft bed; to the young girls from out in the country, moving in to the big city so they can find work. My place would be a beckon of refuge for my guests. A place to relax and enjoy peace.

So in the 1870s, I would be a widowed matron, not only running a boardinghouse, but also owning the said boardinghouse. I would enjoy the freedom my widowed status would afford me. I would become one of the most successful women in Texas of that time.