Contents of a Bride’s Dowry

Matthias Trumbo

No picture of Elma, so here is her father, Mathias Trumbo.

Since daughters typically did not receive land, at their marriage they would often receive furnishings for a home, including furniture, bedding, and even livestock. Mathias Trumbo had six daughters:
Lavina, who married West Matlock in 1840
Isabella, who married Jesse Green in 1843
Eliza, who married William Gibson in 1848
Barbara, who married Joseph Jackson in 1855
Elizabeth, who married Jacob Strawn in 1860
Elma, who married Lewis Robison in 1862

When Mathias Trumbo wrote his will in 1865, one clause applied to only one of his children:

Third, To my daughter Elma Anna Robison I give and bequeath the usual outfit given to my other daughters when married viz: One (1) good horse, Two (2) cows, two (2) good beds and bedding, One (1) bureau, one (1) set of chairs, one (1) Table and Table ware, In case any of the articles so bequeathed to her are not on hand at my decease, my executors shall purchase the required ones for her out of any money belonging to the estate,

Elma was married in 1862. Why didn’t she get her dowry then?

There was this little thing called the Civil War going on. It was no time to reduce Mathias’s ability to plant, harvest, and haul supplies when labor was scarce. By 1865 he felt able to dower his youngest daughter, though only at his death.

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