What would you do if someone gave you ten million dollars? Buy your dream house? Quit your job? Sail around the world? While it may be fun to dream about these possibilities, most of us will never actually be faced with a problem or decision of this nature. Nancy Fowler McCormick was one of the few people who actually had the opportunity to answer such a question.

A Serious Childhood
Nancy, whose childhood nickname was Nettie, was born February 8, 1835, in Brownsville, New York. Her father was a merchant who owned a store in Brownsville. A mere seven months after Nettie's birth, her father was killed in an accident involving a skittish horse. Nettie's mother, Clarissa, ran the store for several years, but she died in 1842 when Nettie was seven years old. Nettie and her brother, Eldridge, were taken to Clayton, New York, and raised by their grandmother Maria Fowler.

Even as a child, Nettie was very serious. Like the Puritans of old, she kept a journal where her introspection, self-examination and soul searching were given free reign. Her childhood was colored by the early death of her parents, and she wondered if she too would die young. These ponderings, however, led her to action. Life was short, and she needed to make hers count for something! Christ's parable of the talents was a daily reminder that "to whom much is given, much will be required." She dedicated herself to the daily service of God. Nettie was not interested in the frivolities of youth. She believed that her youth should be spent preparing for the business of life, not misspent in idleness. In her diary, she wrote, "How my bark [boat] hurries down the dark stream of time!" Even as a child, Nettie never believed happiness was the primary goal of her life. She wanted to live her life in service to God and others.

Nettie was very active in her church. She sang in the choir and played the melodeon. She was thankful to God for the opportunity to regularly attend Sunday school. Though she lived a comfortable life, she felt the suffering of others who were less fortunate than she. While attending the Troy Female Seminary, the seventeen year old Nettie wrote to her brother, "It has been very, very cold here today--Oh my heart bleeds for those who are turned out of house and home this stinging cold night." Because she longed to accomplish something great in service for humanity, Nettie scorned the fashionable pleasures of society. In her own words, "Usefulness is the great thing in life--to do something for others leaves a sweeter odor than a life of pleasure."

When Nettie Met Cyrus In 1856, twenty-one year old Nettie met Cyrus McCormick while visiting relatives in Chicago. Despite their twenty-five year age difference, Cyrus realized that Nettie was the woman with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Forty-six year old Cyrus had worked hard all his life and made his fortune from his patent of the mechanical reaper. At first, Nettie was hesitant to marry Cyrus, but he didn't give up. He told Nettie, "I do not think there is a man in the world who would strive more to please you than I should do--no one whose disposition and manner would be more under your control and influence than mine as your husband." Cyrus and Nettie were married on January 26, 1858.

Nettie was determined to be a good wife to Cyrus. She promised herself that she would "always sympathize with my dear husband. I will support him. I will be his guardian angel. Do as he wishes." However, Cyrus' business took him away from home and Nettie was often lonely. She consoled herself that duty was more honorable than enjoyment. Confiding in her journal, she wrote, "It sounds very easy, but it is not easy to be really good--and always put forth the best effort--to study wise words, to say the right thing in the right place. This is not easy."