I recently encountered this tweet, claiming that an ad was placed by a man "Looking for a wife in 1865." (Click image to enlarge.)
CHANCE FOR A SPINSTER. -- A young man in Aroostook County, Maine, advertising for a wife, speaks of himself as follows: "I am eighteen years old, have a good set of teeth, and believe in Andy Johnson, the star-spangled banner, and the 4th of July. I have taken up a State lot, cleared up eighteen acres last year, and seeded ten of it down. My buckwheat looks first-rate, and the oats and potatoes are bully. I have got nine sheep, a two-year-old bull, and two heifers, besides a house and barn. I want to get married. I want to buy bread-and-butter, hoop-skirts, and waterfalls for some person of the female persuasion during life. That's what's the matter with me. But I don't know how to do it."
The tweet has, at this time, more than 2,000 retweets, so I hope it meets Skeptic's notability standards. (I also found a similar claim on reddit by searching Google for the first few lines of the article.)
I requested more information from the tweeter, but we'll see what happens. (I am not very hopeful of a response; with over 200 replies, I doubt mine will garner any special attention.) Google Image search was not very helpful.
So, my questions are:
- Was this a real newspaper ad that ran in 1865?
- If the ad did run, is there any indication whether there actually was an eighteen-year-old man seeking a wife behind them (as the pictured article claims), or was this just a joke?