Editor’s Note: March is Women’s History Month and Spirit of Abilene will be highlighting women who have made a difference in the lives of others. To honor someone, send her name, photo, and reason for the honor to editor@spiritofabilene.com

By Danny Minton

Throughout history, a number of prominent women have had a significant influence on bettering the lives of women and their place in the world. Over the centuries the contributions of women have had a substantial impact on the ability of women to achieve higher standings in the face of worldly opposition. One young woman who helped change how women were viewed was Margery Meanwell.

An interesting fact is Margery Meanwell was a fictional character in the book, “The History of Little Goody Two Shoes.” The book was first published in 1765 and has been reprinted several times over the centuries. Unfortunately, the author is unknown, but the story lives on. 

Farmer Meanwell, at one time, was a successful farmer, owning his own land and enjoying time with his family, which included his wife and two children, Tommy and Margery. Several crop failures and business misfortunes made it necessary for him to borrow money to keep his farm and survive. This put him in contact with two unscrupulous men, Sir Timothy Gripe and an overweight Farmer Graspall, who desired to own all the land and enlist tenant farmers to care for the land. Due to his dealings with Sir Timothy Gripe, Farmer Meanwell lost his land to Gripe, who took it over and turned the family out to the streets. Farmer Meanwell was forced to leave and seek employment elsewhere. Unfortunately, he contracted a fever and passed away. His wife, stricken with grief, passed soon afterward, leaving the two children alone with nothing. “They were both very ragged, and Tommy had two shoes, but Margery had but one.” Even well-to-do relatives refused to come to their rescue. 

Soon, Mr. Smith, a kind clergyman, knew a charitable, well-off relative and asked him to take the children. The relative decides to take Tommy and make him a sailor, but he has no desire to take Margery. However, before he left, he bought her a pair of shoes and gave the clergyman money to buy her some nicer clothes. As distraught as she was at being separated from her brother, she was elated at having a pair of shoes. “She ran out to Mrs. Smith as soon as they were put on, and stroking down her ragged apron, thus, cried out, ‘Two shoes, Mame, see two shoes.’” She told everyone she met about her shoes and soon received the name “Goody Two Shoes.” (Note: Goody at the time would often be interpreted as Miss or Mrs.)

The story continues with “Goody Two Shoes” deciding that she had to learn to read to make it on her own in the world. She makes blocks of the alphabet, teaches herself how to read, and then decides to teach other poor children to read. Later in the story, she foils a robbery and is offered a job teaching at a school. At that point, she retakes her name, Margery. Her exploits include her teaching and tutoring, being accused of being a witch, finally getting married, and being reunited with her brother.

Until this book was published, most of the stories of children were what was read in fairy tales. The story of “Goody Two Shoes” puts a young child in a situation where she faces real-life challenges and must learn to make it through life alone. “Susan Manly, a scholar of 18^th-century English and Irish literature at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, suggests that the story of Goody became popular and enduringly influential because it dispenses with magic and fairy tales, ‘placing its action in a recognizably real world of economic struggle.’” The book, Manly says, encouraged writers including Anna Laetitia Barbauld and Maria Edgeworth to ‘set their stories for children in the real world.” (Smithsonian Magazine, September/October 2023)

Although Goody Two Shoes is a fictional character, it shows how women’s stories can be significant teaching examples for people to follow. The Bible is full of stories of women whose lives were influential in the world in which they lived. Esther, Naomi, Ruth, Mary Magdalene, Dorcas, Rahab, the Wife of a Noble Character in Proverbs 31, and the many others mentioned throughout are stories that inspire and teach us about real life.

Each of us has a story. We all have events along life’s journey that have formed who we are, what we believe, and how we handle what life throws at us. We should learn to share these stories along with their trials and high points with others. We never know how our stories may help someone else in their personal life journey. I’m sure that when “The History of Little Goody Two Shoes” was written, the author was just writing a story to entertain their readers. No one knows for sure who wrote the original story about Goody Two Shoes, but the important thing is how it influenced and changed the way future writers influenced the lives of young readers, both boys, and girls, in the future.

Danny Minton is a former Elder and minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ