Marriage
William Mahone was of Irish-American heritage and grew up in Southampton County, Virginia. He graduated with the Class of 1847 from Virginia Military Institute (VMI), trained as a civil engineer. He was hired in 1853 to build the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad (N&P), which passed through Isle of Wight County not far from the Butler's home in Smithfield.
Otelia married 29-year old Mahone on February 8, 1855. The couple settled in Norfolk, Virginia. Later in 1855, they escaped the yellow fever epidemic which decimated a third of the population of the Norfolk-Portsmouth area by staying with his mother in Jerusalem (later renamed Courtland) in Southampton County.
Popular legend has it that Otelia and William Mahone traveled along the newly completed Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad naming stations from Ivanhoe, a book she was reading written by Sir Walter Scott. From his historical Scottish novels, Otelia chose the place names of Windsor, Waverly and Wakefield. She tapped the Scottish Clan "McIvor" for the name of Ivor, a small Southampton County town. When they reached a point in Prince George County not far from the end of the line at Petersburg, the two could not agree. It is said that they invented a new word in honor of their "dispute", which is how the tiny community of Disputanta was named. The N&P railroad was completed in 1858, and William was named its president.
When her husband became an officer in the Confederate Army, Otelia served the cause in Richmond as a nurse. Small of stature at 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing only 100 pounds (45 kg), her husband was nicknamed "Little Billy". When Otelia was notified by Governor John Letcher that her husband had been injured in the Second Battle of Manassas, but had only received a "flesh wound", she replied "Now I know it is serious for William has no flesh whatsoever." Late in the War, during the Siege of Petersburg, Otelia and the children moved to Petersburg to be near him. Mahone himself became the hero of the Battle of the Crater in July, 1864, and was promoted to Major General.
Read more about this topic: Otelia B. Mahone
Famous quotes containing the word marriage:
“In all perception of the truth there is a divine ecstasy, an inexpressible delirium of joy, as when a youth embraces his betrothed virgin. The ultimate delights of a true marriage are one with this.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Men commonly couple with their idea of marriage a slight degree at least of sensuality; but every lover, the world over, believes in its inconceivable purity.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The sum and substance of female education in America, as in England, is training women to consider marriage as the sole object in life, and to pretend that they do not think so.”
—Harriet Martineau (1802–1876)