Building on Dreams

Chapter 46 - The Notebook of Maxwell Tabor

The small brown book in Greg's hands occupied him for the rest of Friday afternoon on that last day of May. Reading it was like being transported back in time, back to an era before most modern conveniences ... and yet there were some. Railroads clearly existed, as did the telegraph. The telephone hadn't been invented ... or if it had, it was still very new, and life was still very primitive in most places.

The opening notes in the book identified it as a notebook rather than a journal, though as Greg looked at it, the little book was a bit of both. As he'd guessed from the letter, it belonged to and was written by the man named Maxwell, who identified himself within its pages as 'Max'. In book's the opening paragraphs, Max reported having been contacted by his uncle, a man named Judd Tabor, on behalf of the Tabor family. The first few pages were a list of pros and cons about taking up his uncle and a partner on a proposition: to travel west to California to inspect a number of investments the Partnership they represented was interested in. Several were listed, all of which were in California; a California gold mine was only one. There was also a banking opportunity, a new railroad and growing agriculture in the central part of the state. Apparently identifying an appropriate investment opportunity would benefit the family as whole, the notes said.

In the pros column Max recorded the following: "an opportunity to travel, adventure, gold(?), support of the family to garner their support in the future, freedom ...". In the cons column he wrote, "delay law exams, delay income, delay wedding, disappoint Grandfather, delay the inevitable ..."

Obviously the opportunity to find gold with the possibility of striking it rich, or at least coming home in better financial shape than when he left appealed to Maxwell, even if it meant disappointing his family, delaying his marriage, and his eventual career.  It also told Greg that Max was apparently preparing to become a lawyer, which suggested the graduation Rosalie mentioned in her first letter was probably from high school.

Greg paused to make a note on a pad. The letter from Rosalie talking about the graduation was written in November of 1874, which suggested Max finished high school the following June, which would have been 1875. Greg made a note of that date too. Becoming a lawyer, even in those days meant years and years of school, five or six years at least, meaning the earliest he could have finished was 1881 or 1882, only two or so years before the second letter; which meant, Max was young when this notebook was made, probably in his early twenties. Given that, Greg went back and took a closer look at Max's pros and cons list, while considering the task he'd been asked to do.

What young man wouldn't think twice about an opportunity for travel and adventure, but especially when handed to him in the guise of doing the family a favor? And as Greg considered it, he knew the last entry in the pros column said it all. Freedom. The more he read from Maxwell's notes, the more Greg began to suspect that was the most appealing reason he put down. For a young man from the East, growing up in the restrictive environment Maxwell's notes seemed to suggest, the temptations and opportunities offered in the west must have been irresistible. And so, as had been obvious by where the little book had been found, Maxwell Tabor left. He took the opportunity offered by his uncle and traveled California, and this particular notebook seemed devoted to the particulars about his journey.

The next few pages contained notes about the people Max intended to contact when he got here. Names were listed, most of which Greg didn't recognize, though he seem to recall the name Crocker having something to do with early California history. A little further on in the book, Max created a second contact list, this one for people who presumably were closer to home. They included mostly addresses for Boston and New York. Again most of the names meant nothing to Greg, but there was one he recognized from the letters. Rosalie Ashby and her address were at the top of the list. A second name that seemed significant was listed only as 'Mama' and then the word 'home' in parentheses after it. Sure enough it was a New York address. Apparently he was right. Max at one time did live in New York.