Helen had come to Colorado in 1873-1874 for her health, not expecting to meet her future husband. William Jackson was a quiet, reserved man and as another guest at the Colorado Springs Hotel he intrigued Helen. William came from Pennsylvania and was brought up as a Quaker. In spite of the fact he had no formal education he was quite successful. When Helen met him in Colorado he was Vice President of a railroad and he owned a local bank.
Upon her arrival in Colorado she was not very impressed, but through William she was able to see the great beauty of her surroundings. Her health was improving greatly with the clean, crisp mountain air. Their romance proceeded and William finally asked her to marry him. It was not an easy decision for Helen. She had experienced great tragedy in her first marriage, there was an age difference of over five years, they had different backgrounds, and she was too old to have children. Finally, after much consideration she accepted his proposal and they were married in October 1875 (the same month as her first marriage).
Their marriage was not a conventional one. They had mutual respect and love for each other, but also spent a great deal of time apart. Helen continued her travels, visiting friends and family back East, traveling to California and elsewhere. William, in turn, was required to travel for business. Throughout their marriage he was supportive of her writing, something she was not able to really do in her first marriage.
Several years after Helen's death he married her niece, Helen Fiske Banfield in 1888 (Helen had told him that her niece would make a good wife for him). The younger Helen was a Vassar graduate and the daughter of Helen's sister. They had seven children together and a happy marriage. So, Helen's prophecy came to fruition.
I don't know about that happy marriage to Helen Banfield Jackson. She gave him seven children in 11 years of marriage. She was pregnant almost half the marriage. The last child died as a infant. That, I believe, cased a depression so bad that, she killed herself with a pistol. In everything I've read and discovered about the incident, I don't think William considered Helen's death a great loss.
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