DIXIE WHIPPLE

"The best work is yet to be done."

     When Sgt. Henry Corry did not return to St. Louis following his service with Gen. Braxton Bragg in the Indian Wars, his sister-in-law, Dixie Whipple, traveled west in search of him. She brought with her Corry's four young daughters, Faith, Hope, Charity, and Prudence--names given them by their late mother for attributes she had looked for in vain in their feckless father. In the intervening years, Whipple, a spinster, had supported herself and her nieces, not by sewing, teaching, or the other occupations thought fit for a woman, but by her talents as a cabinet-maker, which she had learned from her father. 
    When Whipple and the young women tracked Henry Corry to the settlement of Fort Bragg, they were too late. He had perished in a logging accident the year before. Lacking the funds and the will for passage back east, Whipple unpacked her tools and set about doing what she did best--woodworking.
    Through the years, she trained each of the girls in the fine arts of mortise and tenon, precisely fitted dovetails and book-matched veneers. As the railroads expanded and fortunes were made on timber and gold, Whipple and the Corry girls developed a specialty. They gained fame throughout the west, and even in 

parts of the east, for the outfitting of private railway cars. Employing the finest Cuban mahogany ebony and satinwood, the women turned an ordinary car into an elaborate wonderworld of carved and silken wooden surfaces.    
    Aunt Dixie died and Faith, Hope, Charity, and Prudence carried on her tradition in a shop near the Fort Bragg railroad station, renamed by them, The Four Sisters. In 1919, to recognize their unique contributions, the railway company treated the venerable ladies to a trip to San Francisco, pampered guests in one of their own cars. They drank champagne, ate raw oysters and accepted a key to the city.
    None of the women ever married. Meaner spirits said it was for lack of opportunity, but others said it was a shame to let such talent die for want of an heir. The Corry sisters never bothered with opinions. They lived to ripe old ages following the adage of their redoubtable aunt, Dixie Whipple: "The best work is yet to be done."

​Link to steam-punk themed short story by Doug Fortier based on the four Corry sisters, "Anarchy's Shadow"