Martha Morton is Courting

[Karsaroni]

Congrats! I hope he can afford to provide for a family.

He can't, but of course that doesn't matter in this world!!

[Karsaroni]

I am hung up on rhyming "Morton" with "courtin'". Since I don't think Addie would be interested in a barely-legal 18 yo, I agree that maybe she is just holding out for a more mature dude who finds her purple prose delightful, and will tea-party with her to her heart's content. I'm thinking a Lanier/Philip thing thing might suit her.

It will definitely take someone as quirky in their own right to court someone like Addie. I think she's too "out" there and vocal to attract your typical 18 year old Fundie boy. She'll definitely need someone older and more mature and in my opinion, sort of quiet and non-descript. Someone that would be fine letting her shine and be... Addie. It's going to be a tough sell in her world.

[Tangy Bee]

Ok am I the only one who notices Martha does NOT look thrilled in any of those photos? Please just go back and glance through them. Yes she looks lovely with bangs and yes she's wearing a very stylish blouse...but her spark just isn't there. In past photos she looks spunky and vibrant. Just don't see a young woman happy to be celebrating a courtship/bday, to a future spouse. Maybe this isn't who she "really" wanted. Maybe she's doing it because she thinks it's the right thing to do. Maybe I'm wrong and she just has PMS. Can't be happy all the time I guess.

[lexiloumarie]

Ok am I the only one who notices Martha does NOT look thrilled in any of those photos? Please just go back and glance through them. Yes she looks lovely with bangs and yes she's wearing a very stylish blouse...but her spark just isn't there. In past photos she looks spunky and vibrant. Just don't see a young woman happy to be celebrating a courtship/bday, to a future spouse. Maybe this isn't who she "really" wanted. Maybe she's doing it because she thinks it's the right thing to do. Maybe I'm wrong and she just has PMS. Can't be happy all the time I guess.

I noticed it as well but I'm not sure if its the courting or the major change it will bring in her life. The Mortons are one of the scarier families because they appear to live by what they preach, and this will be a big life change for her. Unlike say Erin Bates whos the first to marry, Martha has seen sisters and sisters-in-law get married. The constantly pregnant married women are adults and seem to be expected to behave as such, compared to the "silly single girls." Martha has always been silly and goofy in photos, this whole process has to be a big adjustment to her.

One of the many major flaws in this whole system, you can't have children one day and adults the next. Emotionally it doesnt work that way.

[fundiefan]

Martha is now doing exactly what she was raised to do. Marry some man child who wants to have sex with her and make babies. They don't actually care about their daughter's happiness or worth. They care about a boy who makes it through daddy's obstacle course with all the right words. Martha's life is now over. She is now a brood mare, existing merely to prop up her boy man husband and be a willing, silent baby maker.

[uber frau]

I noticed it as well but I'm not sure if its the courting or the major change it will bring in her life. The Mortons are one of the scarier families because they appear to live by what they preach, and this will be a big life change for her. Unlike say Erin Bates whos the first to marry, Martha has seen sisters and sisters-in-law get married. The constantly pregnant married women are adults and seem to be expected to behave as such, compared to the "silly single girls." Martha has always been silly and goofy in photos, this whole process has to be a big adjustment to her.

One of the many major flaws in this whole system, you can't have children one day and adults the next. Emotionally it doesnt work that way.

Compared to her sisters (in-law) Dorothy dodged a bullet. (It probably helps that she doesn't seem to be popping out babies at the same rate as Katie and Kressie.)

[Kira]

Martha and Tayte are engaged! How long was their courtship? A few weeks?

[lexiloumarie]

Martha and Tayte are engaged! How long was their courtship? A few weeks?

It was announced at the end of October, but may have been already going on? Either way, not the shortest, but shorter than some of the others.

[Escapefromfundiedom]

Martha and Tayte are engaged! How long was their courtship? A few weeks?

Where did you hear this?? Share plz! :)

[Kira]

Where did you hear this?? Share plz! :)

mortonclanthree.blogspot.com

Adeline will have more details on Monday!

[LurkerOverThePond]

Martha is now doing exactly what she was raised to do. Marry some man child who wants to have sex with her and make babies. They don't actually care about their daughter's happiness or worth. They care about a boy who makes it through daddy's obstacle course with all the right words. Martha's life is now over. She is now a brood mare, existing merely to prop up her boy man husband and be a willing, silent baby maker.

You always find the right words to say the exact thoughts I have but cannot express myself clearly. Thank you for that!

Martha does seem a bit happier in the new photos. One still has to wonder how Mr. Man Child is going to support his soon-to-grow family... He probably works at the family farm so life wont change that much for Martha. She will just go from helping her sisters and sister-in laws with babies to raising her own brood. For Martha's sake, I hope she's not as fertile as Katie but more like Dorothy who at least has a few years between her first babies.

[Jana814]

Just read through this post. How many kids r in her fiancé's family.

[Jana814]

Just went though their blog. Oh my r they fertile!

[gentlegiant]

18?? Why must they marry so young? She's young too but how can he have the skills to support them at that age? Ridiculous! I went to Hyles-Anderson many years ago and Dr. Evans always used an analogy of an old clock slowly ticking away saying"Take your time, take your time" but in these "modern days" the new clocks say "get together quick, get together quick" and that's what these courting people do. Maybe their parents are just tired and can't wait to get the kids off their hands.

[erunerune]

mortonclanthree.blogspot.com

Adeline will have more details on Monday!

But I don't WANT to wait until Monday! Dammit, Addie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :popcorn2: :pull-hair:

[lexiloumarie]

18?? Why must they marry so young? She's young too but how can he have the skills to support them at that age? Ridiculous! I went to Hyles-Anderson many years ago and Dr. Evans always used an analogy of an old clock slowly ticking away saying"Take your time, take your time" but in these "modern days" the new clocks say "get together quick, get together quick" and that's what these courting people do. Maybe their parents are just tired and can't wait to get the kids off their hands.

I don't think so for the Mortons, I think they honestly believe in the movement they follow in terms of marriage and guarding hearts and all that. They for instance had Cleve wait until 26, but allowed Wes at barely 18. Its all about purity for them. Wes joked about trying to not notice Rachel for something like 2 years, so I imagine they let him marry rather than do something considered inappropriate.

I find them to be more fascinating (and scary) because of it. Botkins/Maxwells they are not.

[Kira]

I'm surprised the Morton's haven't written a book about courtship and "Christian marriage"

[marmalade]

So they're engaged after a courtship of what, a MONTH? :pink-shock:

[dramallama]

I wonder if Martha & Tayte's wedding will revert back to all that weird shit all Morton weddings included prior to Dorothy's - Daddy Morton deciding when the wedding will take place and not telling the bride and groom until he decides it's time, the betrothal, the best man riding up on horseback and blowing a shofar to call the groom to do the same, etc. I read back over the entries about Rachel & Wes' wedding earlier today, and some Q&A entries in which the Morton parents expounded on the symbolism and their wedding/betrothal practices, including Daddy Morton explaining how he waits until 2-3 days before the wedding to explain "the way of a man with his maid" (his words). :cray-cray:

So they're engaged after a courtship of what, a MONTH? :pink-shock:

Less, possibly! It was 10/30 that Tayte's family announced it on their blog. And they can't have known each other for more than a few months - the family just recently moved to the area and from the way it was written it sounds like Daddy Alexander didn't "notice" Martha's fine teeth and sturdy hips and point her out to his son to say "hey, you should court that one" until recently. I bet they never spoke to each other until within the last month. Ugh. Ugh, ugh, icky.

[Kira]

I think Martha is going to have a "normal" wedding, like Dorothy and Cleve. I also think Smiths are partly responsible for all of the weird weddings.

[ladyamylynn]

I think Martha is going to have a "normal" wedding, like Dorothy and Cleve. I also think Smiths are partly responsible for all of the weird weddings.

Yeah, I'm fairly sure that "Captain" Smith was the catalyst for the dramatic side of the previous weddings. The Mortons don't allow much time for courting, do they? How exactly does this differ from arranged marriages, again?

[SamuraiKatz]

Wtf is up with pushing 18 year old boys into marriage? Poor Martha! She deserves time to grow up a little and so does Tayte.

[lexiloumarie]

Yeah, I'm fairly sure that "Captain" Smith was the catalyst for the dramatic side of the previous weddings. The Mortons don't allow much time for courting, do they? How exactly does this differ from arranged marriages, again?

It's even creepier when you consider Pa Morton's weird speech bragging that Katie was so incapable of making decisions because he'd never let her make any that he had to "help" her decide to get married.

[Luisainlondon1]

Less, possibly! It was 10/30 that Tayte's family announced it on their blog. And they can't have known each other for more than a few months - the family just recently moved to the area and from the way it was written it sounds like Daddy Alexander didn't "notice" Martha's fine teeth and sturdy hips and point her out to his son to say "hey, you should court that one" until recently. I bet they never spoke to each other until within the last month. Ugh. Ugh, ugh, icky.

[uber frau]

In Martha's (very small) world, that's just the way things are done. I doubt she knows there are any other ways (well, any other Christian ways) of doing it.

Noah & Dorothy courted for about 30 seconds. Sure, they 'knew' each other before-hand but I very much doubt they'd had any time or privacy to have anything like a deep conversation before their token courtship.

And Katie had so little experience making decisions for herself that she basically agreed to marry her husband because her father told her to.

Martha has been raised to be married off to the first godly man who comes looking and to pump out as many babies for Jesus as possible. In her world a happy marriage is a bonus, not a right.