Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1912-09-20
JOHN MILLER MURPHY TELLS STORY OF
MERCER AND THE CONTINENTAL s. TRIP
and
m he ind Fan
Copyright, 1919. by Enenbee Publishing Coz

1t is a little over half a century ago
that at least one newspaper (the Pu-
get Sound Herald) called attention to
the fact that the dearth of marriage
able women in our new territory was
a serious condition confronting mar
riageable, energetic young men of good
moral character, who were separated
by thousands of miles of expensive
journey from many deserving women,
those made widows and orphans by the
war. as well as the needy from the
congested state of labor by the thou
sands of unemployed with the dispo-
sition of sordid employers to take ad-
vantage of 1t in reducing wages to a
starvation limit.
1t was realization of this need and
knowledge of the conditions that i'm
PEELED 96 Of these bachelor candidates
for matrimony to publish on February
"a, 1860. the following advertisement
in the Puget Sound Herald:
Attention, Bachelors: Believing that
our only chance for a realization of
the benefits and early attainment of
matrimonial alliances depends upon
the arrival in our midst of q number
of the fair sex from the Atlantic
states. and that, to bring about such an
arrival, united effort and action are
called for on our part, we respectfully
request full attendance of all eligi-
BILE and sincerely desirous bachelors of
this community to assemble on Tues
day evening next, February 28th, in
Delin & Shorey's building, to devise
ways and means to secure this much
needed and desirable immigration to
our shores.
(Signed) d. " K. Waldron, Egbert
H. Tucker. christopher Downey, Jas.
E. D. Jester, G. Ford. o. H. White, ].
X. Mccall, E. A. Ferguson, o. C.
Shorey, and 81 others.
This advertisement. and the meet
ing resulting from it, created much
comment by the papers East and West,
among them some of the influential
city journals. that seemed to prepare
the way for Mr.. Asa S. Mercer, young
gentleman, who arrived in Seattle
fresh from college to engage in educa.
tional work, and divert his attention
somewhat to a different branch of in.
structive labor and that was to make
this demand and supply accessible. His
first plan was to secure territorial aid
to bring young women from New Eng
land for school teaching, seamstresses,
hOusekeepers and other positions far
removed from household servants, as
such. The favorable view taken by
many of the Oldest and most influen.
tial pioneers-judges and bankers
among the number-influenced Mr.
| Mercer, at the close of term as the
| first president of the territorial uni
versity, failing to get money from the
impoverished cash-box of the terri
tory. to make an effort for private sub
scriptions for the purpose. In this he
was moderately successful, and this
enabled him to go to Boston and place
| the matter before the needy girls and
young women to accompany him to
Washington. When the time fog de
| parture arrived, however, only II
found courage to leave friends tC
make a voyage of several thousand
miles, land settled by entire stran
gers to them. They left New York in
| 1864 and came by way of the isthmus
and San Francisco, thence by the barl
Aorrent to Port Gamble and the slooI
Kidder to Seattle. Most of them paiG
their own way, but few of then
availed themselves of the means pro
vided by Mr. Mercer. They arrived al
| Seattle about midnight of May is
1864. All found ready and congenia