Molly Brown Essays - Mike Molly, American Women In World War I

Molly Brown The woman who would come to be known as the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" was born on Denkler Alley and Butler Street in Hannibal, Missouri on July 18, 1867. She was born during a very bad thunderstorm and her mother predicted right then that Molly would not be "just another pretty face." Margaret (Molly's birth name) grew up in a small town with a surprisingly small population of less than 20,000 people. (Heroine of the Titanic, 1) Margaret attended school for thirteen years. It was during these years that she earned her nicknames Maggie and Molly. She had a very open and close family. There were eight people in her small childhood home. These eight consisted of her two parents, her five brothers and sisters, and Molly herself. At the age of ten Molly's father taught her how to row a boat. He insisted that this skill would be useful for her later in life. If he only knew what laid in store for his daughter! A little known fact about Molly's family is that they were poor. She tried to keep this fact about her family a secret because she found it shameful and embarrassing. As a young girl Molly worked at the Park Hotel. She was soon dismissed for being too opinionated for a young lady. She then went to work in a tobacco plant, but found the conditions disgusting and vulgar. (The Unsinkable Molly Brown, 1) At the age of nineteen, Molly was getting bored in her small "same ol, same ol" town. When she heard that one of her favorite cousins and his wife were taking a train cross-country to Colorado she literally jumped at the idea of going with them. She had heard all of the stories of adventure and excitement in the West and wanted very badly to try her hand at it herself. Molly's parents decided to let her go because their small town had nothing to offer their daughter. Molly's main goal in life had always been to achieve success and be well known. They hoped their oldest child could make her dreams come true in the great land of Colorado. Once Molly got to Colorado, she was anxious to begin her own adventure and see what was in store for her. She got a job sewing carpets while she got her new life started. Her co-workers described her as a "capable and pleasant" employee. They all adored her because she had a bright, charming personality, and beauty to go with it. Molly's move to Colorado was also a bit terrifying because she could have found herself working in a crib house, as a prostitute, or a cook in a boarding house instead of fulfilling her dreams. It was here in Colorado that she met her future husband while the both were mining for silver. Molly met James Joseph Brown in a local mine. He fell madly in love with her charm and wit. Stories say that when he came to her house for their first dates he pulled up to her gate with an old , worn carriage and an aging horse. Molly said to James, "Certainly you are not taking me anywhere in that!" The next time James called on her, he had purchased a brand new horse and carriage just to show Molly off in. Maggie and J.J. married on September 1,1896. Not long after their marriage James struck it rich in the silver mines of Leadville. The couple bought a sixteen-room mansion that is now a museum. ( Molly Brown, 1) Legend says that not long after they moved into their large home, J.J. brought home his $300,000 paycheck . Molly placed it in the stove for safe keeping. When James came in later that evening and lit the stove to warm himself up, he did not realize that Molly had hidden the money there and in a split second their monthly fortune was gone. As good as things were going for J.J. and Molly financially, their marriage was heading for trouble. J.J. was sick of all the commotion Molly was causing around the town. Although documents do not reveal what commotion Molly got into , we can only begin to imagine what kind of things she stirred up! J.J. soon left Molly and she sent their children to boarding school. With no one for Molly to care for she decided to set off on her own