Seattle's population had more than doubled in the decade since the first families founded the city in 1852, however the population largely consisted of young bachelor men who came to work in the timber and fishing industries. In the early 1860s Asa Shinn Mercer (1839-1917) decided to go to the east coast to find educated, marriageable women of good moral standing to work as teachers and in other respectable occupations. The women he brought back, about 45 total between 1864 and 1866, became known as the "Mercer Girls."

Sisters Annie M. and Elizabeth "Libbie" Peebles traveled from their home in Maryland, New York via steamship to Seattle, arriving on May 28, 1866. In Seattle, Annie Peebles married Amos Brown (1832-1899) in 1867, and was active in the women's suffrage movement. Libbie Peebles worked as clerk in the House of Representatives for the Legislature, and she later taught school in Chehalis, Seattle, Olympia, and Lewis County. In 1871 Libbie Peebles married Seattle banker Angus Mackintosh (1839-1904).

In this declaration, Annie Peebles Brown and Elizabeth Peebles MacKintosh relate the story of their voyage from New York to Seattle, and correct the misperception that they were "Mercer Girls." The sisters relate that they traveled to the Puget Sound area on the recommendation of a family friend, and paid their own full fare, unlike travelers persuaded and sponsored by Asa Mercer, who owned the ship. They state unequivocally that they were "in no way parties to this arrangement." Though they had intended to return back east after a visit, they relate that "the lure of the Pacific Coast has held us here all these years."

A note handwritten on the back of the letter indicates that the statement was written in the hand of Elizabeth Peebles MacKintosh.

Caption information source: "Mrs. Annie M. Brown, Pioneer of '65, Dies," The Seattle Daily Times, September 4, 1927, p. 4.
Caption information source: "Mercer Girls," by Peri Muhich, HistoryLink.org Essay 1125.