I’m excited to introduce you to the heroine of my current work in progress, The Carpenter’s Schoolmarm, the first book in the Brides of Cooperton, Kansas series. You can check out the setting and meet the hero and villain of this story by clicking on the links below.
Setting for The Carpenter’s Schoolmarm
This is Samantha Baxter, a schoolmarm on the run from her abusive fiancé. She finds a safe haven in the small town of Cooperton, Kansas where she starts to build a new life. Things are going well until a handsome carpenter arrives back in town and begins to stir feelings she can’t return.
The image below is what I envision Samantha to look like. When scouring on Pinterest, I came across this photo and knew immediately this was my schoolmarm.
I thought I would list some of the rules a schoolmarm were asked to follow. Now these are not set rules that every state or even county followed. The discretion usually came down to the schoolboard. Here are just a few of the rules I came across while researching schoolmarms in 19th century America.
1). Each morning the teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day’s session.
2). Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting, or two evenings a week if they go to church on a regular basis.
3). Female teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
4). Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents public halls or gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity, and honesty.
5). Any male or female wanting to become a teacher must pass a teacher’s examination.
6). Female teachers may ride in a buggy with a man, if the man is her father or brother. (I can tell you, Samantha definitely did not follow this rule 😉)
Most teachers were not paid that well and usually relied on the generosity of the community for lodging and food.
I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about Samantha and the schoolmarms who helped shape the American West.
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