Post-Civil War war marriages in the South

I found an interesting article about what changed in patterns of marriage in the South due to deaths of so many men during the Civil War. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002115/

I have always wondered what southern white women did with the absence of so many white men who died during the war. I had thought some would look to black men for relationships but the social stigma and threat of violence was probably too much. Moreover, I assumed that some white women engaged in "polygamy".
 
I have always wondered what southern white women did with the absence of so many white men who died during the war. I had thought some would look to black men for relationships but the social stigma and threat of violence was probably too much. Moreover, I assumed that some white women engaged in "polygamy".
I also assumed that white northern women of the post war era married black men or became polygamists in the search for relationships. But alas, I found that not to be true.
 
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I also assumed that white northern women of the post war era married black men or became polygamists in the search for relationships. But alas, I found that not to be true.
I read a study a few years ago that showed that in the North there was an increase in Northern native born women marrying immigrant men.
 
I read a study a few years ago that showed that in the North there was an increase in Northern native born women marrying immigrant men.
I’m sure that’s true. But I bet there’s little data showing those immigrants came from Africa and the women were involved in polygamist marriages.
 
One of my gg grandmothers is listed on the 1850 and 60 census as being from Ireland. Nobody seems to know how she got to Mississippi.
Many Irish came to the US via New Orleans. She may have found a job opportunity or romantic relationship in Mississippi. In 1860 Miss had fewer than 4,000 Irish born living there.
 
There was very little immigration to the United States until the late 20th Century.
Maybe not in the same volume but we sure talk a lot about the Irish and Germans in the war. I’m no expert but I guess the waves of southern and eastern European immigration came in the period you speak of.

German colonization of central Texas began in the 1840s and as you know the majority were Unionist. You may not know of the Czech colonies established here about the same time. Not as big an influence as the Germans but their Kolaches are much loved in this part of the country. The little town of West, TX, just north of Waco, has a well advertised gas/food business called the “Czech Stop” that sells these wonderful pastries. I always thought that pretty clever.
 
Maybe not in the same volume but we sure talk a lot about the Irish and Germans in the war. I’m no expert but I guess the waves of southern and eastern European immigration came in the period you speak of.

German colonization of central Texas began in the 1840s and as you know the majority were Unionist. You may not know of the Czech colonies established here about the same time. Not as big an influence as the Germans but their Kolaches are much loved in this part of the country. The little town of West, TX, just north of Waco, has a well advertised gas/food business called the “Czech Stop” that sells these wonderful pastries. I always thought that pretty clever.
I have been th\o some "German" towns around Austin, so I am familiar with them. I was surprised to see that there were still people speaking the "old" German in the Hill Country who were not born in Germany. I spoke to a professor who spoke German who said that they were hard to understand for a modern German speaker.

I have not visited any Czech communities, although they are sometimes described as influencing Norteno music.
 
I hope you got to visit Fredricksburg, about an hour west of Austin. We first visited there in 1978 IIRC, staying overnight on a road trip between Midland, where I worked, and San Antonio. It’s become somewhat overwhelmed by tourists now but was a quiet, little town 40 years ago and we fell in love with it.

The Czechs settled east of the Hill Country according to this article:

https://texashillcountry.com/czech-immigrants-texas/2/

But the cultures overlapped, especially in the communities east of Austin like LaGrange, Round Top and Carmine. It’s a good topic to explore. I don’t know which way the Czechs leaned during the CW.
 
My grandmother was born in 1890, so this situation is not in the immediate post-war period but maybe reflects what happened to some single women a generation earlier in the South where things didn’t change much over the decades.

They had a live-in lady she always referred to as Aunt Bett. I don’t recall her last name but she was an unmarried white woman who moved in with the family for room and board, who virtually became a family member over time and who stayed for the rest of her life. Apparently that was a socially acceptable way for single women to carry on in rural areas like that as not many of them were living alone.
 
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If you look at censuses during the period after the CW you will find many families with boarders which seemed to be a common way of doing things back then. I often imagine quite large homes to fit them all in, but sleeping arrangementments were different then,too.

BTW, I'm a bit lost on all this talk of polygamy. To me that means a woman being married to multiple men. If it happens it's usually the other way round in some organized fashion as part of a culture or religion. I have trouble imagining Southern women being married to multiple men, especially when pregnancy is a very likely outcome of their relationships. And then she would have the children to care for as well. This may be one of the strangest things I've ever come across here :confused:
 
Indeed. I have never read of any Southern women in the 19th century participating in polygamous relationships. As a matter of fact, an article entitled, "Opposition to Polygamy in the Postbellum South" by Patrick Q. Mason makes a clear case against it.
Is there a chance this article was written because it was a distinct possibility? I seriously don't get it, but if you link the article or further information, I'm sure it would be interesting.
 
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