Franklin C. Norton's Bride

New York, 1895

Georgia Lott of Far Rockaway became Mrs. Franklin C. Norton on Monday morning. The bride is 20 years old and the bridegroom 57. As the couple left the church the bride was given a check for a handsome amount by the bridegroom who is worth $100,000.

When it became known that Norton was engaged to Georgia Lott a local man-about-town, who boarded at the Norton house, made some comment about the young woman which angered Norton. He promptly drew a revolver and threatened to shoot the traducer of his sweetheart.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, April 19, 1895, p. 1.

The Wedding Ring

1895

The ring was considered a badge of servitude by some and was for that reason given by the man to his wife, like our forefathers, who were accustomed to give the future son-in-law one of the bride's shoes as a sign of authority over her. It was reputed to be accompanied by a tap on the head of the bride with the said shoe by the husband in order to assert his prerogative. The ring was used in ancient times as a sign of contract, and from that fact, according to the antiquary Brand, it was nearly abolished by the Puritans of Cromwell on account of its heathenish origin. Butler, in his "Hudibras," refers to it:

Others were for abolishing
That tool of matrimony, a ring,
With which the unsanctified bridegroom
Is married only to a thumb,
As wise as ringing of a pig
That used to break up ground and dig.

The circlet of love withstood the assaults of the sanctified Roundheads, and Cupid's yoke did and does still have sway. An old Latin writer thus describes the ring: "(1) It is circular, because its form importeth that mutual love and hearty affection should always exist between the giver and Wearer. (2) Its rotundity exemplifieth that the loving joys of courtship and matrimony should be forever, their continuity remaining as unbroken as the circlet itself." — Chambers' Journal.

Wedding Feast Is Turned Into Riot

1920

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania. — The course of true love ran rough for Michael Sheridan, who was married recently. The disturbing element was John Fogarty, a rejected suitor.

Fogarty wasn't invited to the wedding feast and resented it. At the height of the celebration the unbidden guest entered the dining-room and eyed the bride.

"She's mine," he announced to Sheridan. The husband wasn't convinced.

"I claim her," continued Fogarty, removing his coat.

The argument took active form. The feast ended, the guests fled, and the bride fainted.

Riot calls brought a squad of police. The belligerents heard the patrol gong, agreed to a hurried armistice, and joined forces against the intruders. The course of true love then ran rougher than ever.

It all ended at the police station with bride, groom, rejected suitor, and a stray guest, each in a cell.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 2.

Married 60 Years

1916

Fifty-year wedding anniversaries are frequently heard of, but Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Boyer of Elizabethville, Pennsylvania, have just celebrated their sixtieth anniversary. They have spent the entire sixty years of their married life on the same farm. Mr. Boyer is 85 years old and his wife is two years younger. Three of their four children are living.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 11.

She Waited

1901

Even a Scotchman cannot always be humorous, if he would. Like other people, however, he is sometimes funny without meaning to be. The Scottish-American thinks that the message sent by a young man in Peeblesshire to his waiting bride may have kept her from worrying over his nonappearance, but that she must after all have received it with mixed feelings.

The bride elect lived in a village some distance from the home of William the bridegroom. The wedding was to be at her home. On the eventful day the young man started for the station, but on the way met the village grocer, who talked so entertainingly that William missed his train.

Naturally he was in what is known as a "state of mind." Something must be done and done at once. So he sent the following telegram:

Don't marry till I come. WILLIAM.

If the bride elect knew her William she probably knew how he felt when he sent the message and forgave the mental confusion which resulted in what she must have looked upon as a needless request.

Braves Surgeon's Knife; Balks at Facing Altar

1920

NEW YORK, N. Y., Jan. 1. — Dr. William Gray Vermilye, 62, a former naval surgeon, did not flinch when he was called upon to face the surgeon's knife in a Brooklyn hospital. But when it came to leading Miss Ruth M. Keeney, 35, to the altar he balked. In fact, he disappeared on the day he was to have been married and sought the hospital to have a minor operation performed rather than face the preacher with his intended bride.

Dr. Vermilye was found by Miss Keeney, who was on the verge of collapse. She carried a bouquet for him and sent to his room a request that he see her.

He refused.

Miss Keeney fainted.

Interviewers were unable to get a statement out of the physician for quite awhile. Finally he issued a prepared statement to the effect that on his return from South America recently he was met with an invitation to his own wedding. He denied he was hiding from any one, but intimated that he just didn't have the nerve to get married after living in single blessedness so long.

Filipino Bride Smokes a Cigar

New York, 1910

With a fat cigar between her little white teeth, the first Filipino bride-to-be ever received in the marriage license bureau of this city walked down the steps of the city hall the other day. With her was a little brown man, who through an interpreter admitted the pair wished to be married.

Both bride and bridegroom hail from the mountain districts of Luzon, Philippines, and both are living in Coney Island, where they are members of an amusement park show.

Miss Tu-Go-Dan, the prospective wife, and A'lao, the man, were accompanied to the city hall by Chief Chemingo, ceremonial chief of the Bontoc or head-hunting Filipino tribe.

The couple were much amused by the ceremony, the little brown girl smiling broadly at everyone. Immediately after the tying of the knot, Mrs. A'loa brought out a package of cigars and coolly lighted one. — New York Press.


Sympathy from Chicago

The people of Cleveland have adopted a civic motto. It is: "Onward, Cleveland, onward," If the citizens who are in favor of the abolition of the smoke nuisance there could have had their way the new motto would doubtless have been: "Hurry, Cleveland, hurry."

Young Bride in Jail Warns Girls of Drug

1915

Tells of Ended Romance and Fight Against Morphine

And so, this story of the tragic ending of a happy romance and a forlorn fight against the use of drugs, is a story with a moral.

LOS ANGELES, Cal., Dec. 16. — A little wanderer in the gray land of drugs tossed and turned on a cot in a cell at the matron's department of the city jail.

"Never take the first dose," she sobbed. "It's grip is terrible."

She was Mrs. James Dellarocca, 19 years old, and a bride of but three months.

In a separate cell on the floor below was her husband, facing a charge of forgery.

But even in the torment of her soul, that "little wanderer" sobbed that her next fight against the use of morphine would be a successful one, and with tears rolling down her cheeks told the story of her life in the clutches of drug habit.

How She Started

"When did I start?" she sobbed. "Oh, that is the worst part of the story. It was a woman who started me — a woman who said she was my friend. That was about four months ago. I knew that she was 'queer' — that is, she was a drug user.

"One day I was very sick. I had been ill for several weeks. I was suffering terribly. Then this woman came to me and told me she could relieve my suffering. I knew what she meant and I refused.

"She kept right after me. I was in agony. She said I could take it once and then not again. Finally I gave in. The pain was numbed.

"Oh, it's the same old story from then on. I could not stop.

"I was compelled to increase the dose every day. Inside of a few weeks I was taking a grain and a half.

She Meets Jimmy

"Then I met Jimmy" — Dellarocca — "it was love at first sight. I loved him. He asked me to marry him. I was foolish and told him yes. He did not know I was taking morphine. I decided it was best to tell him before we were married and I did so — two days before.

"I remember he put his arm around me and said, 'Never mind, little girl, you and I will fight it out together, you'll be all right in a little while.'

"We were married and we started to fight. We begun saving our money so that I could be cured. I could not stop, tho. I would take a little each day. But we fought hard and we smiled as we fought, because we were going to win.

"Then his business went broke. Our money went fast. He could not bear to see me in agony without morphine. He would buy it altho it hurt him to do it and give it to me.

"I became worse. The fight seemed hopeless. I was taking 2 grains three or four times a day. Then we were arrested.

"I am glad I have been arrested. I will have another chance to fight morphine. They tell me I can be cured and I am going to try, oh, so hard, for Jimmy's sake and my sake.

"Oh, tell girls never to touch drugs. Tell them to run from it. Tell them to stop their ears every time it is mentioned. Please do, 'cause it may do some good."

The "little wanderer" declared that her husband was innocent of the charge of the forgery of counter signatures to nine $100 checks.

"I will stay by him until the end," she sobbed as she turned her face to the wall.

Runaway Returns Home

1915

This is going to be a Merry Christmas at the Mohr home, 10 St. Mark's place, New York City. For Sophia has returned. Her voluntary return cleared up her mysterious disappearance. She had been working as a "stripper" in a cigar factory at Hartford, Conn., while the police of the country were searching for her.


Miss Snow Elopes With Mr. Blizzard

PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Dec. 16. — It has just been learned that Miss Bessie Snow, 25 West High street, Germantown, eloped with George Blizzard. The bride is 19 years old, the bridegroom 27.


Troubles

Making light of your troubles is the best way to dispel darkness.

Bruin as a Fisherman

May 1902

Old hunters say that the black bear does a good deal of fishing at this season. It is said that carefully studying the sun and approaching so that his shadow will not be cast upon the waters, bruin creeps cautiously to where he sees the telltale fins, and dexterously throws the fish out of the water with a sweep of his paw.

A couple of lads came across a different kind of bear at St. Mary's Lake, near Hull, Canada.

This one preferred having some one else do the fish catching for him.

The boys had got a good sackful of pike, which they had left near a stump while they amused themselves on a raft they had thrown together. They looked ashore after a time to see a big bear walking off with the bag of fish over his shoulder.

He paid not the least attention to their shoutings, having, as it transpired, taken the precaution of breaking the stock of their gun across at the grip before carrying off the fish.


Lovers' Thrilling Experience

Fred Tieman and Miss Rosie Beard, living a few miles below Evansville, Ind., in trying to reach a preacher's house to be married, were forced to cross a long streak of bottomland covered with about ten feet of water. The buggy was upset and the occupants thrown out. Tieman held his sweetheart in his left arm while he cut the harness, freeing the horses from the buggy. The lovers then held on to the horse's tail until the shore was reached, a distance of nearly a mile. The wedding ceremony was postponed for a day. — St. Louis Republic.

Lee-Cartwright Wedding

Leon, Iowa area, 1901

Wednesday evening, February 13, was an ideal beginning for a bright February eve, and its sunshine was in harmony with the spirits of the joyous company of 40 intimate friends, who assembled at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Cartwright to witness the marriage of their lovely and accomplished daughter Carrie, to Mr. Wm. Lee, of Denver, Col. At 7 p. m. the notes of the wedding march filled the room, played by Mrs. L. Richson, the bridal party marched gracefully into the parlor,and were united in marriage by the Rev. Geo. Hughes, repeating the impressive Episcopal ring service. Mr. and Mrs. Lee received the congratulations of those assembled, and then they led the way to the dinning room, where an elegant dinner was prepared by Mrs. Cartwright. The tables were arranged in a hollow square, the bride and groom occupying the seats of honor.

The bride is so well known and so generally a favorite, as to need no words of introduction. She will be sadly missed in our midst. She was arrayed in an elegant robe of crepe and satin, cream colored, arranged with square neck, trimmed with cream lace with slippers to match. Her only ornament was a beautiful diamond ring, a wedding present from the groom.

The groom is an employe of the C. R. I. & P. R. R. and is a young man of the highest moral character, and first-class business ability. He was dressed in a cut-a-way suit of black broadcloth and presented a handsome appearance.

The bridesmaid, the groom's sister, Miss Maud Lee was arrayed in a black satin gown with pink trimmings with pink shoulder mitts and slippers.

Mr. Frank Mendenhall acted as best man, dressed in the convenient black suit.

They received many useful and beautiful presents.

The young people will visit here until March 10, when they will go to their new home at 1113 Larimer St., Denver, Col., where they will be "at home" to their friends after March 15. The congratulations and best wishes go with them from all the public.

ONE WHO WAS THERE.

Five Hens Lay Eggs in Deep Snow Nests

Feb. 1920

Fowls Dig Their Own Snug Roosts on Roof of Barn

HILERTON, New York — It being the warmest day of the winter, Chester Wasselton, a poultryman of this village, opened the door of his hen house to allow his hens to come out and enjoy the sunshine. Late in the afternoon Wasselton went to the hen house and seeing the hens were on the roosts closed the door.

Next morning the poultryman heard a loud cackling which came from the roof of the hen house. He secured a ladder, placed it against the structure and climbed to the roof, which was covered with three feet of snow. Wasselton says that when he reached nearly to the peak of the roof he was surprised to find five of his white leghorns buried in the snow. Furthermore, he says that when he removed the hens he was dumbfounded to find that each hen had laid an egg.

Wasselton placed the eggs in his coat pocket and threw the hens from the roof. He expresses the opinion that the hens flew to the roof the night before, dug their way down to the shingles through the snow and, as it was warm, made no effort to leave.


Cake 14 Years Old, Served At Wedding

First in Family to Marry Won the Fruity Confection

ST. LOUIS, Missouri — A wedding cake made fourteen years ago was served as a breakfast following the wedding her of Miss Geraldine Isabelle Buchanan, of California, Mo., to Lieut. Austin Smith Parker of Greenville, S.C.

The cake was made from a recipe for Chinese fruit cake and preserved in brandy to be served at the first wedding in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Buchanan, parents of the bride.

Of Course, the Bride Knew He Was Wrong

1920

Always That Way When Meek Man Weds Robust Woman

FORT SCOTT, Kansas, Feb. 26. — Sometimes it's easy to see, even before the couple is married, just which is going to be boss of the household and which one is to do the paddling in the boat in which they traverse the matrimonial sea. Habitues of the court house in this city saw a concrete example of this fact this week.

A big, robust woman stepped into the office of Register of Deeds Adler Johnson. She had authority written all over her face and her big frame.

"Is this where I get a license?" she inquired in stentorian voice.

"What kind of a license?" queried Adler.

"A marriage license," said the woman.

"No, we don't handle them," continued Adler. "Go to the first door down the hall on your right."

"I knew at first this wasn't the place," said the big woman with evident disgust; "that's what I told him."

Thereupon she stepped into the hall and when the door opened Adler could see a little, meek-looking man standing on the outside. It was evident that the woman had usurped the command and was going to take charge of the marriage license business, not to mention, of course, the honeymoon and the rest of the alliance.

Society Mom Objects to Wedding, Splits Up Son, Bride

1909

ODD MARRIAGE CONTRACT

After Honeymoon Couple Will Separate Till June to Test Affection

With his mother absent from the ceremony to which she was opposed, Mason M. Wilson, reported to be heir to much money, was married the other afternoon in Philadelphia to Miss Nellie M. Kernan. Their honeymoon is to be short lived, in accordance with a plan proposed by the bridegroom's mother.

When the couple return after a two weeks' honeymoon Wilson is to live with his mother at 2111 Chestnut street and the bride is to go to the home of her parents at 2412 Catharine street. This arrangement is to continue until June. If then they will care for each other Mrs. Wilson has promised not to disinherit her son and will help him to go to housekeeping in the fall.

Mrs. Wilson objected to the marriage on the ground that Miss Kernan was not her son's social equal. Miss Kernan was formerly a salesgirl in a department store.

—Printed Jan. 15, 1909.

Bride-To-Be Alive in Coffin, Funeral Becomes Wedding

Virginia, 1892

A BIG SURPRISE

A Man Married His Wife on the Day of Her Expected Funeral

"I married my wife on the day I expected to attend her funeral," said Abram Poindexter to the Idle Hour club that was holding a séance. "That was twenty-five years ago, in Richmond, Va. We were to have been married on the 1st of January, but on Christmas day the young lady was taken ill, and on the last day of the old year she died; apparently.

"The funeral was to occur at an early hour next morning, and she was placed in a coffin that evening. About midnight I went to the room where she lay and the watchers withdrew to the hall. I sat down and bowed my head upon the coffin, overwhelmed by my loss. I had sat there perhaps ten minutes when I heard a scratching inside the coffin, then a stilled sob. My nerves, already stained to their utmost tension, seemed to snap, and I stood up and screamed like a hysterical woman. The watchers thought I had become insane, and tried to take me away. I was powerless to speak, and could only point to the coffin. They did not understand me, and persisted in taking me away. I broke from them and strove to tear off the coffin lid with my fingers. They trailed for help, but all the men in Richmond could not have held me back. I ripped that coffin lid to splinters, dragged the young lady from it and rushed into the open air with her. The people were too much horrified to follow me instantly. They called in the police to confine me, but when they found me the young lady had her arms around my neck and we were both laughing and crying like a couple of children. The minister came to preach the funeral sermon, but performed the marriage ceremony instead."

—The Davenport Tribune, Davenport, Iowa, Nov. 19, 1892.

A Dozen Carloads of Callers Give Newlyweds A "Belling"

Ohio, 1918

WERE TENDERED AN OLD-TIME BELLING

A dozen machine loads of Elks called at the home of Attorney and Mrs. F. S. Scott, in the Mt. Vernon road, last evening, and gave them an old-fashioned "belling."

Judge Scott had retired when his wife aroused him by informing him that several machines must have missed the road as they were coming up their driveway. The din made by the visitors was terrific, and later they were invited into the home by Mr. Scott, who introduced his wife and refreshments were served.

Congratulations were extended the newlyweds, and a speech of felicitation was made by Dr. H. H. Baker. Attorney Scott responding, stating that he was sorry they had not called earlier as he would like to have shown them all his war garden, consisting of everything in the vegetable line; his poultry and his livestock, consisting of two cows, five Belgian hares, and an English bulldog.

The visitors left after spending a pleasant evening and were all given a cordial invitation to return.

—The Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, June 12, 1918, p. 4.

She's Worth $1,000 a Pound

1909

She's Worth $1,000 a Lb.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Because she was jilted and lost twenty-five pounds weight in consequence, Miss Luella Lowstetter wants $25,000 damages — $1,000 for each pound lost. She is a school teacher of the fashionable suburb of Sheraden. Her suit is against Prof. Earl W. Reed, principal of the school. Miss Lowstetter asserts that Professor Reed jilted her in a most humiliating fashion after she had agreed to marry him and had got her trousseau ready. She and her attorney said in court today that she lost at least twenty five pounds owing to worry over her jilting, and that the wedding clothes would not fit her now.


Eskimo Is a Cannibal

ST. JOHNS, Newfoundland — Tragedy in the far North formed the burden of the news brought to port by the Hudson Bay Company's steamship Adventure, which arrived with the crew of the lost Dundee whaler Paradox. The crew told of an Eskimo, who driven to cannibalism by starvation, ate his child and after shooting several neighbors who attempted summary punishment, fled into the trackless wilderness of ice.


Tramp Heir to $25,000

William Close, who ran away from his Baltimore home when he was 16 years old, was found — a typical tramp — in a lodging house in Chicago Thursday night and informed that he had fallen heir to a fortune of $25,000 left him by his father. The next morning he started for Baltimore with Attorney J. D. Goldboro of that city, who has been searching for the prodigal for two years. Close, attired in a new suit of clothes, bathed and barbered, ascribed all his troubles to drink and declared he was determined to reform.

Charge of Burglary Halts Man's Wedding

1920

Intended Bridegroom Is Accused of Part in Bank Robbery

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Love may laugh at locksmiths, but not always when there is a reinforcement of iron bars and a jail cell.

This was brought home to Miss Nettie Dorothy Irle and Lowell H. Mills, prominent in social circles of central Illinois, when the latter was arrested the day before the marriage of the pair was to have been celebrated. He was accused of being a principal in the robbery of the bank at Mansfield two years ago, an occurrence which has always been shrouded in mystery.

Protesting his innocence, Mills was taken to the Platt County jail at Monticello, where he was held until friends could furnish $5,000 bail. He then hurried back to his weeping fiancee, who was ready to marry him, even with the charge of burglary hanging over him. But the girl's father, George C. Irle of Champaign, peremptorily forbade the union until the defendant was formally acquitted.


Peace Treaty Is Slow Seller

PARIS, France — Copies of the treaty of Versailles sell for 25 cents in Parisian book stores. There is little demand for it, however, and the price is expected to drop to a nickel a copy.

—Published March, 1920 but events did not necessarily occur immediately near that date.

Mars First Aid to Cupid; Parents Split Them...For A Time

Ohio, 1917

Mars First Aid to Cupid

Couple Parted by Parents Are Reunited in Marriage When Man Becomes Officer.

Gates Mills, OH. — The whole world loves a fighter — not a lover. That's the way the adage goes now. Second Lieut. Charles S. Bailey of the Ohio Field artillery and Addie Schmunk, eighteen, daughter of Robert J. Schmunk, motorcar magnate, have found it out.

Two years ago the young folks, very much in love with each other, defied stern parents and were married in the office of a justice of the peace. The parents, however, were not to be outdone. They had the marriage annulled and broke a couple of hearts for the time being.

But since that time Bailey has been graduated from Ohio university and has been made an officer in the artillery and he's going away to France, and that changes things. They have been married again. The first affair was rather lonely and only two witnesses besides the contracting parties were present. The second event was one of the social events of the season in this little city.

—New Oxford Item, New Oxford, PA, Aug. 23, 1917.


The Bride and the Cynic

"Yes," said the bride of a week. "Jack tells me everything he knows, and I tell him everything I know."
"Indeed!" rejoined her ex-rival, who had been left at the post. "The silence when you are together must be oppressive."

Prospector Digging Gold Finds Wife Instead

1907

FIND GIRL'S NOTE HIDDEN TWELVE YEARS; TO WED HER

Gold Seeker Discovers Missive That Was Buried In Fun and Speedily Answers It.

LEAD, S. D., Jan. 5.—A few weeks ago Benjamin Hurst, a young prospector, unearthed in the Black Hills, west of here, a rusty tin can containing a note scribbled in pencil by Miss Julia Demming and buried by her twelve years ago.

As a result of the finding of the note, Hurst and Miss Demming are soon to be married. The note, written and buried in a spirit of fun by Miss Demming, read:

"Whoever finds this note will please the writer of it by advising her that he has unearthed it. Her address in Portland, Ore. JULIA DEMMING."

Hurst promptly wrote the young lady that he had found the note. A week or two later he received an answer to his letter written at Seattle, the present home of Miss Demming.

He wrote her again, she replied, and thus was begun a correspondence which grew into friendship, resulting finally in love and an engagement. Hurst is a young gold seeker who has spent the greater part of his life in the Western mountains.