They had returned to Philadelphia in time for the celebration of American Independence. The story of the event's foundation bothered Evelyn, as she was British. But the music, the bunting, the loud songs and parades, and all the joy that brought forth in that celebrating helped heal her physically from the long winter, sad spring, and voyage home, and it also helped relieve her of the emotional pain of the loss of her father.
Since almost the time of
nation-building, Philadelphia had been wrought with racial tensions against
blacks, both free and those from the South. It was part of the North but was
close enough to the South that Southern sentiments were always just below the
surface.
Also, there was the eternal spectre of religious animosity and even hate. The elitist founding fathers, the Pilgrims, and most early settlers were proud and staunch Protestants, Methodists and Episcopalians, and hardworking German Lutherans, and none of them welcomed the predominantly Irish Catholics now flooding onto America’s shores
This led to a long, drawn-out
period of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic riots. In Philadelphia, various gangs
controlled their neighbourhoods, and violence was a widespread occurrence. A
group from one set of blocks in a neighbourhood would taunt and fight other
gangs. These fights often led to vandalizing properties and even firebombing
businesses. And that only further complicated things as fire brigades were
privately owned and usually controlled by gangs of one particular nationality.
One neighbourhood would not assist another area if the fires were in their
enemy's land.”
Most of this divisiveness was
eliminated, and the
Issues were resolved with the Act of Consolidation in 1854, which expanded city
control over Philadelphia County and reorganized police and fire brigades under
one central control.
After just two years of returning
from England, Jonathan and Evelyn moved beyond the city's western edge to an
area known as Penn Valley. Evelyn resisted this move, but it was necessary as
they were becoming quite well known in the old city, and this would grant them
some leeway in distancing themselves from anyone who may notice their
continuing youthful and unchanging appearance.
Country life agreed with both of them. Evelyn was reminded of her youth in the Lakelands district in England, and Jonathan raised and rode horses. He garnered quite a reputation for thoroughbred Arabians.
Over the next few years,
Jonathan’s stud farm and breeding business was booming as both the Army of the United
States needed more horses to ensure a strong westerly drive to the Pacific
Ocean and the fulfillment of the dream of American Manifest Destiny. The idea
was that white Americans were divinely ordained to settle the entire continent
of North America. President Andrew Jackson first mentioned the notion of Divine
expansion, but the term was attributed to an Irish-American journalist and
lobbyist, Jane Maria Eliza Cazneau.
The second point of interest concerning his wealth was the demand for horses to move settlers to the West and make that dream a reality.
During that time, Orlan Marcano often visited Penn Valley. He was now an industrialist in the ironworks industry around Richmond, Virginia. His small firm manufactured only two products, which would be vital in the next decade: steel for the spikes used in constructing railways in the South and high-quality steel for rifle barrels.
During his visits to the North, he always boasted to Jonathan that he had ridden up to Pennsylvania on steel created in the fires of his forges, that Jonathan’s horses were all out west, and that they would soon be rendered obsolete in the age of the Iron Horse across America.
On his visit in the spring of
1861, he brought his second wife up to Penn Valley to meet Jonathan. For the
previous five years, he had a tall brown-haired wife, Ophelia, whom he recently
divorced and sent off to San Francisco with a large packet of money and her
dignity intact. He then immediately married the blonde, Adrianne.
The Authentic had requested, or more aptly, forbid him from turning any Standard into a Devi. So, he gladly accommodated her wishes and decided to entertain a new wife every five years or so.
As the evening weather was unseasonably
warm, they all sat on the veranda, discussing the day's subjects, primarily the
secession of the Southern states from the Union.
When in the distance, the sound of pealing church bells could be heard. This was unusual as it was a Monday, and none of the churches held events or services that day. The date was April 15, 1861, just three days after the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter. The bells were calling for an assembly of locals to hear the news that President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling the state militias to increase to 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion. He appealed “to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honour, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union.”
The war no one wanted and was almost avoided seemed to be at hand.
Orlan and Adrianne set out the following day to return to Virginia. The station was full of Southerners heading north and Northerners heading south. If there were to be war, it would divide the nation and pit state against state and brother against brother.
There was no formal declaration
of war, only an escalation of raids and minor provocations.
In the weeks following Lincoln’s call up of more militias, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee seceded from the Union. Lincoln then called for an expanded army. The war's first significant battle happened during the second week of June 1861.
The main road between Philadelphia and the state capital, Harrisburg, passed adjacent to his farm. He opened up his paddocks for travellers to stable their horses and ran a coach line into the neighbouring city with five-eight-person covered carriages. Still having the freight wagons from the dry goods store, he ran a haulage company down to Wilmington, Delaware, and then north to Trenton, New Jersey.
With the war effort underway and
materials needed, the Union Army requisitioned St Croix’s horses and his
freight and haulage company for a fair market value. One-third of the payment
would be made immediately, followed by small installments over the next five
years, and the remainder as a single payment within six months of the cessation
of hostilities.
With no recourse, he accepted and
appointed the long-established London law firm of Baxter, Narrows, and Tyrol
as his agent.
As the arrangements were made, he
and Evelyn sold the land and prepared to move on.
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