Francine Munsen’s life in 1878 had been a series of ups and downs—all because she allowed one of the benefactors of the Albany Elite Academy for Girls to raise a hope that she could attract a man willing to marry a spinster math and science teacher like her. She wrote a short introductory letter, only to receive a response in effeminate handwriting. After taking the chance that she might like the physical science instructor better once she learned more about him, she wrote again, this time sharing more details. She even traveled to Denver and attached herself to an all-female scientific expedition so they would have more to write about. All summer she waited in vain for a reply. Just before the autumn term started, she received a letter written in a definite masculine hand. It was not from the same man. Jason Sewell, a full professor of science and astronomy at the University of Iowa, was a widower with no interest in the young female students who often flocked around him. He did not plan to marry again. Then, he took a trip to Rawlins, Wyoming to view a total solar eclipse. During the weeks of hunting and exploring that followed, his friend—from whom his mother extracted a promise that a letter from a girls’ academy teacher would be answered before the end of the summer—handed him the letter. As a wedding gift for his friend, he promised to respond. Months later, he invited Francine to spend her Christmas break in Iowa City. Before Francine could travel to Iowa to meet Jason in person, she must keep a promise. Serving the girls who could not return to their homes for the Christmas holiday a figgy pudding made using a centuries-old recipe had become a school tradition.