I recently shared a 104 year old newspaper clipping of my maternal grandparents wedding announcement on Facebook.  I was shocked at the number of folks who liked my post  – the majority of them non-family members.  The clipping had many interesting facts about the day of marriage that took place between “the contracting parties”.  The wedding was in 1911 and in other newspaper clippings I have, the happy couple celebrated 40 years together in 1951.  The wedding only had immediate family present, while the anniversary celebration write up boasted 60 folks in attendance.

As a genealogy “freak” I spend hours upon hours collecting information, processing information and recording information.  As an unemployed, genealogy “freak” I have had quite a bit of time to enjoy this activity these past 5 months.  UGH – 5 months of being unemployed.  I am looking for a job, I promise.  I have applications in.. and interviews have happened… but I guess writing and genealogy is where it is right now!  Anyway- the information in this 1911 newspaper article is not new to me… but seeing it actually in print and actually owning the piece of newspaper it is printed on gives it more meaning in my genealogy world. The challenge in this discovery is to read between the lines.

For instance – the bride had two brothers. The groom had two sisters and one brother.  They each had one attendant.  The “bridesmaid”, interestingly not labeled the Maid of Honor, was the bride’s cousin. Well to be exact, she was a second cousin – according to Rootsmagic, my genealogy program that has a relationship calculator.  The best man was one of the bride’s brothers while her other brother provided the music on the household piano.  Hmmmmm…. why wouldn’t the groom have chosen his own brother as best man? Or the bride choose one or both of the groom’s sisters as her attendants? I have no idea, and I have never heard any story that would suggest that there were ill feelings between the members of these two families.

What I do know, from census documents, is that the bride and groom and their families of origin both lived in the same NY town in 1910. The bride had  lived there all her life, while the groom and his family had moved there, from Brooklyn, NY somewhere between 1889 and 1892. Then, after a death in his family, the 1910 census indicates all but the future groom were living in  Brooklyn and it appears that the he was a boarder in the home of his future bride on the 1910 census.  My guess is that perhaps his family was unable to be at the wedding due to financial restraints or distance.  But that is only a guess.  NOW – that being said… the 40th wedding anniversary newspaper clipping says that the “celebrants were married at the Lutheran Church in…..” not the home of the bride as the initial clipping said.  Which do I believe?

Here we are at a crossroads of knowledge.  Which article do I believe is telling the correct story?  Which article do I feel most comfortable using as my baseline for future information?  The answer is easy for me – both!  Both? Yup! The 1911 write up is closer to the event in timing and is more likely to have the correct location of the wedding reported.  However, that does not make the second article worth nothing.  The one from 1951 gives me lots of other great information about this family and confirms other “facts” from 1911.

Genealogy is a fascinating hobby and I am grateful for the saved clippings and memorabilia that I have in my possession. It helps me to understand some of the story of our family who have braved this world before me and sometimes surprises me with the proverbial “skeleton in the closet”.  To me -those are the most exciting finds in my research.  I love to find out the “real truth”!!

Fascination aside, genealogy is important for other reasons. It helps us to better understand the actual people in our family lines. We can honor their struggle. We can grieve their losses and celebrate their successes. We can connect with someone that we may not have had the opportunity to connect with person to person.

My oldest daughter said the other day that she thinks genealogy is a form of “creeping” and that is why we love it so much. I laughed, but I think she is right.  Backward creeping…. and I do love it!  I love the story of people and what makes them tick, and act and what motivates them and rewards them.  By the looks of my FB page – it looks like many of you like the look back in time as well.

All this from two social page newspaper clippings – you should see what can be found in an obituary and a cemetery!  Don’t ask my kids about cemeteries though……
I have provided my two newspaper clippings so that you can read for yourselves the treasure trove of information that these two reporters provided for me. I wish I could thank them!  I hope you enjoy them!