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| The
Molly Brown House Museum We care about your privacy and security on the Web. Click here to read our policies regarding your use of this Web site. |
| 1886 - All Roads Lead to Leadville | |||
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Encouraged by the many stories of over-night wealth, Margaret's half-sister Mary Ann, her brother-in-law, Jack Landrigan, and her brother, Daniel moved to Leadville, Colorado in 1883. Jack set up his blacksmith shop at 529 East Fifth Street, but Daniel returned home to Hannibal. Two years later, in 1885, Daniel returned to Leadville, found work as a day miner for $2.50 per day and moved into his own home at 722 East Fifth Street, just up the road from Jack and Mary Ann. In early 1886, he sent money home for Margaret and their younger sister, Helen, to come visit their family in Leadville. Margaret was eighteen years old. Helen returned to Hannibal, but Margaret moved in with Daniel, kept house for him and found work at the dry goods firm of Daniels, Fisher & Smith sewing carpets and draperies. Between them, their meager income kept them fed, clothed and housed, but not in the luxury of which they had dreamed. Later, Margaret recalled that her move to Leadville was motivated by a strong desire to help her family and, particularly, her father. "I longed to be rich enough to give him a home so that he would not have to work. I used to think that the zenith of happiness would be to have my father come to his home after a pleasant day and find his slippers warmed and waiting for him. It was a little thing to want, I thought. Of course we could have had his slippers ready for him in those days, you will say, but father was too tired when his work was done to enjoy any comfort. His life was bounded by working and sleeping." Margaret intended to marry a wealthy man to help fulfill her dream of caring for her family. She and Daniel worked long hours merely to make ends meet. Maggie soon discovered that most people in Leadville, like most cities, were not wealthy. In late May or early June of 1886, Margaret attended a church picnic with members of her family. It was there that she met James Joseph "J.J." Brown. Content from Kristen Iversen's book, Molly Brown, Unraveling the Myth. Published by Johnson Books in 1999. |
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