Lyddie: Chapter 18 - Charlie at Last

Charlie was proud to travel to Lowell by train. Railroads were still new, and some thought it was very exciting to ride on something that traveled so fast.

Frances Palmer, published by Currier & Ives, American Express Train (detail), 1864. Lithograph, 17 ½ x 27 ¾ in. Revisiting America: The Prints of Currier & Ives has been organized by Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska.

Lyddie barely recognizes Charlie when he arrives at the boardinghouse. Since he looks the same, she can’t put her finger on what’s different about him. Charlie comes to share the news that he has been taken on as a full apprentice by Mr. Phinney. He feels as if he is treated like a member of the family. He tells Lyddie that the Phinneys want a daughter, and he is ready to take Rachel back with him. At first, Lyddie doesn’t want to let Rachel go, but she knows she must get her sister out of Lowell to save her life. Before Charlie leaves with Rachel on the train the following morning, he gives Lyddie a letter from their neighbor, Luke Stevens.

About a week after Rachel leaves, Lyddie remembers the letter. In the note, Luke tells her that his father bought Lyddie’s family farm. He will inherit the deed from his father, but he doesn’t want to live on the land without Lyddie. He asks her to come back to Vermont and marry him. Lyddie tears up the letter, burns the pieces, and bursts into tears.

Fact Check: Railroads

Were railroads a popular form of transportation in the 1840s?

What do we know?

Railroads expanded in the 1830s. While they were primarily used for transporting goods, people also rode “the cars.” During the nineteenth century, railroad tracks were laid throughout the northeast, connecting big cities. Trains made distant travel much quicker and easier, but their speed and noise also ignited fear.

What is the evidence?

Primary Source:

“The Boston and Lowell Rail-Road was among the very first established in the United States…It was opened for travel in June 1835, earlier than any other rail-road in Massachusetts....”

Appleton, Nathan, Introduction: The Power Loom and the Origin of Lowell, Lowell: B.H. Penhallow, 1858.

Primary Source:

“I saw today for the first time a Rail Way Car. What an object of wonder! How marvelous it is in every particular! It appears like a thing of life. The cars came out from Boston with about a hundred passengers and performed the journey, which is thirteen miles, in forty-three minutes. I cannot describe the strange sensations produced on seeing the train of cars come up. And when I started in them for Boston, it seemed like a dream.”

Baldwin, Christopher Columbus, Diary of Christopher Columbus Baldwin. August 1, 1835, Worcester MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1971.

Secondary Source:

“Because of the railroad, overland transportation changed more dramatically than at any previous time. It was now much faster, and almost as cheap, to move people and goods over land as over water. Railroads were extended throughout New England in the 1840s, before their expansion over the United States as a whole.”

Temin, Peter, ed. Engines of Enterprise, An Economic History of New England Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1986.

Voices from the Field

"Quaker Marriage" by Dr. Thomas Hamm, Professor of History Emeritus and Quaker Scholar in Residence, Earlham College

Photos & Multimedia

Boston and Lowell depot, 1836.Train station in Lowell. This image is of the train station where Charlie and Rachel boarded the train to begin their trip to Vermont.
Photograph. The American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge v.3 1836-37, Boston MA p116, retrieved from HathiTrust

See it yourself

Learn about the history of the steam railroad at Steamtown National Historic Site. https://www.nps.gov/stea

Writing Prompts

Opinion

Make two lists – “Reasons for Rachel to Go” and “Reasons for Rachel to Stay in Lowell.” Based on the reasons you listed, would Rachel be better off with the Phinneys than staying in Lowell with Lyddie? Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details. 

Informative/explanatory

Why is Lyddie offended by Luke’s proposal of marriage? Give specific examples from the text.

Narrative

If you were Rachel, how would you feel about going away with Charlie and leaving Lyddie behind? Use concrete words and sensory details to convey the experience and event precisely.