My Great- Grandmother, Annie Medora Taylor Richardson (1856-1902)

Not long before she died in March of 1902, my great-grandmother, Annie Medora Richardson, called her daughter Helen into her bedroom, summoned the last of her strength, and  said:  “That woman may take my place in the marriage bed, but she is NOT to take my jewelry.” Annie was 46 years old; her husband Dan was 47; Helen (my Grandmother Espy) was 24.

“That woman” was Eva F. Gaches  of La Conner, Washington.  She was Helen’s best friend, though perhaps a year or two older, and had been boarding in the Richardson household for several years while attending nearby California College in East Oakland.  So, too, had several members of the Espy family of Oysterville, Washington — including Harry (to whom Helen had been married since 1897), his older brother Ed (also in love with Eva) and their younger sister Susie.  Helen’s 21-year-old brother Sid was also hopelessly smitten with Eva.

Eva Gaches Richardson c. 1915

Although my grandmother never talked about the “situation” directly, the story of Eva and her swains was well-known in the family.  No sooner had Annie Medora died, than widower Dan asked for Eva’s hand.  For propriety’s sake, they set the date for a year hence —  April 3, 1903.  Young Sid also asked but, apparently, Eva’s rejection did not feel final.  He stuck around until the eve of the wedding and then left California, “never to return as long as his father was still living.”  Or so the story goes.

Whether or not Ed Espy spoke to Eva about his feelings for her is still a matter for speculation  Not too long after Dan and Eva’s marriage, Ed contracted tuberculosis, and although he continued working as an attorney for several years, he finally succumbed to the disease in 1906.  Or… did he die of a broken heart?

My Great-Grandfather, Daniel Sidney Richardson (1851-1922)

My grandmother Helen and her sister Ruth both adored their father.  He could do no wrong.  Nevertheless, there was the feeling in the family that they both blamed Sid’s “lack of ambition” on their father, thinking him too wrapped up in Eva to give proper guidance to Sid and to see him situated in a suitable profession.  Apparently, neither raising cranberries nor growing pear trees was considered “suitable,” no matter how successful Sid was at either or both.

Sid did marry and although we all liked and respected Aunt Bu, she was not Eva.  And Eva, despite all, was considered infinitely more suitable  — whether for father, son, or best friend’s brother-in-law.  Her story and that of the men who loved her is probably the closest we have to a skeleton in our family closet.  But the best part of the story is that Dan and Eva had a son and that son had several kids of his own — among them my cousins Eva and Lina in Austria!  Since neither Sid nor Ed had children, we can only believe that Eva’s choice was exactly right — especially for ensuing generations!