THE LITTLE RED SHOES (CONCLUSION)
Having arrived in New York, William Guiler commenced his search for his wife Elizabeth and their young daughter. He walked the streets before and after work every day. He visited a different church every Sunday. New York had no bureau of missing persons in 1806 so he was entirely on his own. He went to the markets. He frequented the docks. He walked into hundreds of shops hoping to find Elizabeth in one of them. No one had heard of a woman who was looking for her husband who had been left behind on the dock in Liverpool.
Spring and summer passed. It was autumn in New York and the leaves were already falling as William walked the streets of the city. One evening he was shuffling through the fallen leaves, kicking the leaves out ahead of him, and lost in thought. He almost collided with another pedestrian who passed him. He walked on a few more paces before something caused him to stop and turn around. Astonishingly, the other person had also turned to look back! William’s eyes rested on a woman leading a little girl by the hand! Incredulous with delight, William and Elizabeth flew into one another’s arms! The long and cruel separation was over!
What had happened to Elizabeth and little Elizabeth Margaret? They had arrived in New York with no money because William had kept their travel money on his person. Elizabeth found employment with a milliner near the harbor where the ships from Britain arrived. Month after month she went to the docks every day to see if a ship arrived. She carefully watched every passenger disembark hoping to spy her husband. In the meantime she heard stories of ships lost at sea in storms and ships destroyed in combat. She heard about young men being impressed into British naval service. She feared her William had been lost at sea but she never gave up hope.
That evening that she met William she had set out with little Elizabeth Margaret, just as she did every evening, hoping to hear some news or find someone who might be able to help her in her search. By God’s providence she met her long-lost William walking on the streets of New York.
William and Elizabeth had more children together. Their great-great granddaughter was Eliza Faye Guiler. She was born in 1899 and married William Bright Moorhead. Their son is Charles David Moorhead and he is my father.
Spring and summer passed. It was autumn in New York and the leaves were already falling as William walked the streets of the city. One evening he was shuffling through the fallen leaves, kicking the leaves out ahead of him, and lost in thought. He almost collided with another pedestrian who passed him. He walked on a few more paces before something caused him to stop and turn around. Astonishingly, the other person had also turned to look back! William’s eyes rested on a woman leading a little girl by the hand! Incredulous with delight, William and Elizabeth flew into one another’s arms! The long and cruel separation was over!
What had happened to Elizabeth and little Elizabeth Margaret? They had arrived in New York with no money because William had kept their travel money on his person. Elizabeth found employment with a milliner near the harbor where the ships from Britain arrived. Month after month she went to the docks every day to see if a ship arrived. She carefully watched every passenger disembark hoping to spy her husband. In the meantime she heard stories of ships lost at sea in storms and ships destroyed in combat. She heard about young men being impressed into British naval service. She feared her William had been lost at sea but she never gave up hope.
That evening that she met William she had set out with little Elizabeth Margaret, just as she did every evening, hoping to hear some news or find someone who might be able to help her in her search. By God’s providence she met her long-lost William walking on the streets of New York.
William and Elizabeth had more children together. Their great-great granddaughter was Eliza Faye Guiler. She was born in 1899 and married William Bright Moorhead. Their son is Charles David Moorhead and he is my father.
3 Comments:
Pretty cool my friend. It's great that your family has kept these memories alive. Heritage has always been important to our family as well. Did William ever retrieve the little red shoes? Did he buy her some new ones? No matter. It was a great story.
6:15 PM at Portland Airport and I have finally had the time to read your Red Shoes Diary from beginning to end. And, what a great story it is my friend! In fact, I plan to sell your story to Hollywood as it's better than 99% of the stories that they spend millions to produce. As always, thanks for sharing.
Thanks, guys. I really appreciate your reading the story. I think it would make a great movie too. I want Anne of the House to write it up.
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