Bring back my Emma to me....

[Kat]

Allen gives Rebello's quote, pg. 82 as:
"Emma left Fairhaven by carriage or from the Fairhaven Railroad Station."

Now we know she didn't leave by train, but he still asserts she could have left by carriage.
The next question might be, why did she not go all the way by carriage?
Was she being thrifty?
If Andrew was alive, she might get in trouble for wasting money?
Or was she, by then, thrifty herself and decided on a cheaper passage to Fall River- if indeed it was cheaper to go back by train, rather than by carriage?

Thanks for the good info, Christopher.

[snokkums]

I've found a note in Old-Time Fairhaven by Charles Harris, (Vol. I), stating that there was telegraph service from New Bedford through to Tremont (Wareham) by 1856, via the railroad, which had been established two years earlier.

A messenger going from the Fairhaven train station to the Brownell's home would need to travel three blocks north on Main Street, then three blocks east on Washington Street to Green. It's a very short trip, made even quicker with a bicycle.

To emphasize again: a telegraph might come in to this railroad station, but one would NOT go to this station to travel to New Bedford or Fall River, because the train tracks in Fairhaven did not cross the Acushnet River to New Bedford.

She did take a train, regardless of where it was from, and she still needed transportation to reach the station. Were messages routinely delivered as soon as they were received? How many messengers did they employ at the time? What if they were out delivering other telegrams at the time this message came in? Did they deliver by bicycle or on foot? There are always variables to consider. No matter how straight forward something may seem. This is something I'm getting pounded into my head over and over, and I've learned to think everything through this way. So I tend to nit pick a little, and I apologize. But if anything was ever as easy as it seemed, this case would've been solved.

That is a good point, we don't know how the message was delivered nor do we know if the people were out deliver other messages. Or they could have been taking thier time because the message didn't sound all that important.