The_Resurrectionist_The_Lost_Work_of_Dr

1871–1877
MARRIAGE AND
TRANSFORMATION
Doctors are not gods; but we do their work.
—Dr. Spencer Black
Spencer Black completed his schooling with the highest of honors. Nearing international fame at
the remarkably young age of twenty, the precocious doctor was considered an extremely
attractive prospect among Philadelphia’s most elite families.
Black met Elise Chardelle while she was visiting the academy undertaking research for an
anthropological thesis on evolution and natural selection. Little is known about her, but Black’s notes
suggest that she was attractive, had been well educated, and came from a prosperous family in
Chicago. They fell in love almost immediately, and after just three months of courtship the couple
married in June 1871.
Unprepared and without having intended to, I proposed marriage.
I do not know how to say what I feel, but it is wonderful.
Through his work in Ward C, Black was earning a substantial salary, and he purchased a rather
large home near the academy. In the spring of 1872, Elise gave birth to their first child, Alphonse. He
was born healthy and would grow to continue his father’s legacy.