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HelpAri's Wild West NTNB #2: 1853
5 years have passed.
H (30) Joaquin Uriel "Jack" Castañeda (starletinwaiting)
W (27) Constance Phoebe "Connie" Skinner (Laura B.)
S (2)
FN: unusual Biblical name that works in English and Spanish
MN: ends in el, like his father's
LN: Castañeda
Jack continued prospecting through the late 40s, but while he struck a few modest veins, he soon realised the larger fortunes were being made not in the mines, but in supplying goods and services to the swelling influx of fortune-seekers. With his earnings, he partnered with a fellow Californio merchant to establish a general store near Sacramento.
While the store is successful, some sellers do not want to do business with two mestizo men, and, when they don't outright refuse service, they offer offensively inflated prices.
Connie's boardinghouse, which began as a modest venture, has grown into a lively gathering place for travellers, miners, and settlers. With the money she saved, she started her dream school in 1852, opening a small classroom on the boardinghouse grounds.
She teaches settler children and a few Native students - even as some boycott the school and boardinghouse for that reason, as well as her marriage to a mestizo man. Her abolitionist upbringing has kept her attuned to the national debates over slavery, especially as California's admission to the Union as a free state in 1850 has not eliminated racial inequality.
In 1851, Connie gave birth to her first child, a son. She cannot wait to teach him to read and show him the beauty of California's landscapes. Jack dotes on him as well, though his work often takes him away. Connie's parents remained in California after their daughter's marriage.
Her father now works as a carpenter, crafting furniture and wagons for the growing settler population. Her mother assists at the boardinghouse and helps teach practical skills to local families.
masculine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124079
feminine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124080
H (30) Joaquin Uriel "Jack" Castañeda (starletinwaiting)
W (27) Constance Phoebe "Connie" Skinner (Laura B.)
S (2)
FN: unusual Biblical name that works in English and Spanish
MN: ends in el, like his father's
LN: Castañeda
Jack continued prospecting through the late 40s, but while he struck a few modest veins, he soon realised the larger fortunes were being made not in the mines, but in supplying goods and services to the swelling influx of fortune-seekers. With his earnings, he partnered with a fellow Californio merchant to establish a general store near Sacramento.
While the store is successful, some sellers do not want to do business with two mestizo men, and, when they don't outright refuse service, they offer offensively inflated prices.
Connie's boardinghouse, which began as a modest venture, has grown into a lively gathering place for travellers, miners, and settlers. With the money she saved, she started her dream school in 1852, opening a small classroom on the boardinghouse grounds.
She teaches settler children and a few Native students - even as some boycott the school and boardinghouse for that reason, as well as her marriage to a mestizo man. Her abolitionist upbringing has kept her attuned to the national debates over slavery, especially as California's admission to the Union as a free state in 1850 has not eliminated racial inequality.
In 1851, Connie gave birth to her first child, a son. She cannot wait to teach him to read and show him the beauty of California's landscapes. Jack dotes on him as well, though his work often takes him away. Connie's parents remained in California after their daughter's marriage.
Her father now works as a carpenter, crafting furniture and wagons for the growing settler population. Her mother assists at the boardinghouse and helps teach practical skills to local families.
masculine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124079
feminine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124080
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