Today, marriages come in many forms from the brief ceremony at the justice of the peace to elaborate events that go well beyond the ceremony. In the case of my grandmothers, one was married by the probate judge and the other by a member of the clergy. Both came away with a husband and a beautiful record of their marriage.
Courtship and a wedding
Courtship
Originally named Eleanor, my Grandma McCracken hated that name and to my knowledge no documents were ever issued with that name. Thus, she officially became known by her nickname, Nellie. She was a young woman of 18 when she started courting with Joseph Andrew McCracken.
The particulars of Nellie and Joe’s first meeting are unknown. Nellie lived in Bourbon County and primarily would have attended events at Rocky Vale, Pawnee or Hiattville. Joe lived in Crawford County with ties to Farlington. However, they didn’t live too many miles apart.
While courting, they attended events together, but also sent postcards back and forth. In October of 1912, Nellie sent Joe a postcard reminding him of a party and making sure that he knew she would be there.
Their courting became all at a distance when Joe went out of state to work in the fields. Based on the letters they wrote to each other, they were very much in love. Read more about their story in the blog The Locket.
Marriage
On February 24, 1914, Probate Judge Russell issued a marriage license to them. Then, at 5 p.m. on March 4, 1914, Rev. E. A. Brown of Pawnee married them at his home. The Reverend’s wife was the witness. It is interesting that Rev. Brown married them as he was a Baptist minister and neither of them were Baptist. Perhaps no Methodist minister was around the area at the time or they were friends with him as he was a young man of about 30 years of age.
Nellie and Joe received the beautiful certificate commemorating their marriage. It is approximately 18″ by 20″.
Married Life
After their marriage Nellie and Joe set up housekeeping at a house four miles south of Hiattville. Nine and a half months later Nellie would give birth to the first of their eleven children.
Nellie and Joe were married 46 years before Joe died of heart issues.
Wedding And a Celebration
Courtship
Dessie was born in Kansas. However, the family lived both in Kansas and Missouri, mostly very close to Garland, Kansas. The exception is during a short interval surrounding 1913 when the family went by covered wagon and moved to Oklahoma. However, they soon returned to Kansas.
Clifford Claney “Cliff” Pellett was in Scott Township in 1900, but was in Drywood Township by 1905. He wasn’t, however, a close neighbor of Dessie.
After Dessie’s mother, Sarah (Ashby) Thomas died in 1918, Dessie, being the oldest, spent the next four and a half years raising her younger siblings. It is unknown how much time she had for courting. In addition, Cliff was serving in WWI between the fall of 1917 and the summer of 1919. So, unless they were writing letters to each other, they definitely weren’t courting during that time.
However, Dessie definitely new Cliff by October 27, 1921 when Dessie hosted a wiener roast at her Uncle John Ashby’s home, as Cliff was among the large guest list. That evening included dancing and old fashioned games for entertainment.
Marriage
On Saturday, June 2, 1923, Dessie wore a navy blue canton crepe dress with shadow lace when Cliff and her stood before Judge Crider to exchange their wedding vows. Dessie’s brothers Leland and Delbert were witnesses.
They received the certificate shown above. It is not as large as the one my other grandparents received. Yet, it is still good-size (shown in a 18″ by 20″ frame) and is just as lovely.
They ventured from their home one-half mile south of the Diamond School to Fort Scott on business the following Monday. One might guess that they needed a few things in order to set up housekeeping.
A couple of weeks later, the Clarksburg Country Club (a.k.a. the Clarksburg Club) gave Dessie a wedding shower at their regular meeting. The presents were placed in a deep window and the shade drawn to hide them. Dessie was subject to a rhyming game that led her to the window. Each gift also had rhymes, which she read out loud to the ladies of the club. It was said to be enjoyable by all.
Married Life
Eleven and a half-months later, Dessie gave birth to a son. Unfortunately, he died before or shortly after birth. She would, however, go on to have another son and three daughters.
Dessie and Cliff were married 43 years before Cliff died of heart issues. However, Dessie would tell you that they were married 18 years. The reason being that Cliff was in a VA hospital for the remaining years. Therefore, she didn’t view that they were married since they didn’t live as man and wife during that time.