Photos of Couples, 1852-1974

So this isn't a terribly substantial post, but it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. The semester is coming to an end and I find myself incredibly busy, so this is the relatively simple project that is getting tackled this month. I put together all the photos of couples in my family tree. Many are aunts and uncles or cousins, but several are my direct ancestors. They are arranged in chronological order.

Mary Elizabeth Redding & Russell Howard McKee

married on October 13, 1852

James Wilkinson Gammon & Armilda Eliza Myers

married on November 19, 1852 in Monroe, IA

Isaac Newton Morrison & Lydia Josephine Gammon

married in December 1879 in Centerville, IA

Anna Mary Seufer & Newton Franklin Gammon

married on February 14, 1880 in Decatur County, IA

Katharine Rebecca Wilson & John Overington

married on November 5, 1889 in Philadelphia, PA

William Overington, Jr. & Claudia Wetherill Fries

married on November 16, 1903 in Philadelphia, PA

 

Walter Smart McKee & Willie May Maxson

Albert Clate Gammon & Abigail Ruth Lester

married on January 1, 1907 in Ringgold County, IA

James Mathias Gammon & Carrie Bernice McKee

married on November 9, 1921 in Los Angeles, CA

Edgar Percival Jones and Claudia Overington

Howard McKee Gammon & Claudia Overington Newman

married on June 3, 1944 in Roswell, NM

Gisele & Walter Leonard McKee

  

Jack Leroy Upper & Claudia Overington Reid

married in 1950

Shirley Bubadias & Victor Carl Fetzer

married on August 2, 1953 in Neptune, NJ

Jim Gammon & Wanda Starnes

married on November 25, 1974 in Bel Air, MD (shown)

and on July 16, 1983 in Belmar, NJ

Documenting a Marriage, Part 2

The Marriage of William Overington, Jr. and Claudia Wetherill Fries, my great-great-grandparents

I'm still looking at the Overington family for now but this time around I'd like to show how useful newspaper clippings can be. Now, I don't have access to these newspapers on microfilm and so I can't give you advice on going through old papers, but my point here is that you shouldn't throw away any scrap of paper among your family's things without actually reading it. This clipping and another were tucked into a family bible and were falling to pieces - I am forever grateful that I didn't just toss them out, especially because I do not have a copy of their marriage certificate so all my information comes from these articles.

If you remember last month, I mentioned my genealogist great-great-grandfather. I was looking at his parents' marriage and this month, I'm looking at his.

The Frankford Gazette, 16 November 1903

Overington-Fries

Wedding Bells at Old Oxford Trinity Church. Brilliant 

Reception at "The Pines," the Home of the Groom. 

One of the most beautiful and impressive weddings of the season took place in the historic "Old Trinity Church, Oxford," on Monday evening at 6 o'clock, when Miss Claudia Wetherill Fries was united in Marriage to Mr. William Overington, both well known young people of Frankford. The picturesque little church was artistically decorated with palms and choice chrysanthemums, and was filled to its utmost capacity. The ceremony was performed by the rector Rev. Horace F. Fuller. To the ever beautiful and solemn strains of the march from Lohengren, played on the organ by Mr. James Baird, the bridal procession, in perfect rymth moved up the aisle of the church the bride leaning on the arm of her brother Mr. Horace Teese Fries, who gave her away. The best man was Mr. John R. Savage, a life long companion of the groom. The ushers were Mr. Arthur G. Singer Mr. William W. Foulkrod, Jr., Mr. Henry K. Fries, Mr. George R. Wilson, and Mr. John A. Page. The first three are the sole surviving bachelors of the Thirteen Club of which the groom had been a member for many years.

The bride wore an exquisite gown of white panne crepe de chene, with veil and orange blossoms, a magnigcent diamond sunburst, the gift of the groom, and a shower boquet of lillies of the valley. Miss Louisa Fries, sister of the bride, was maid of honor and wore a beautiful gown of pink crepe de chen. THe bridesmaids were Miss Helen E. Fries, Miss Edith E. Good, and Miss Sarah C. Goodfellow, who wore gowns of white mull most effective in their simplicity.

Immediately after the ceremony, the bridal pair returned to the "Pines," their future home at Leiper and Orthodox streets, where an elaborate reception was held. The grand old mansion is an ideal place in which to entertain, for while over five hundred persons were present at no time was the stairway or hall crowded. Refreshments were served most bountifully on the spacious porch which had been enclosed and the interior illuminated with small incandescent lights and twined with smilax, for the occasion. A most joyous spirit of good cheer seemed to pervade the entire assemblage. 

The bouquet thrown by the bride as her final message of good will to her young friends was caught by her younger sister, Miss Helen, and if there be anything in signs, we know who our next bride is to be. The bride and groom left on their wedding trip midst a shower of rice and confetti, and will be gone about two weeks. The gifts were exceedingly numerous and were particularly noticeable for elegance and refinement; there were also a number of bank checks of large denomination. Many good wishes follow the happy pair wherever they may be, and a host of true friends are ready to greet them on their return.

I love this clipping. It's a perfect example of how a family and a community represents itself at a wedding. From a genealogical standpoint, there is detailed information on the whole family and it mentions all their friends. It describes the wedding gown, which is an amazing companion to the photograph I have of it. A textile historian (Leimomi Oakes, to be specific) graciously looked at this photo for me last year and informed me that the style was the height of fashion in 1903 and likely to have been quite expensive.

Claudia Wetherill Fries in her wedding gown, 1903

The two newspaper articles about the wedding (the one above and another from the Frankford Dispatch), even though they are local papers, seem to back up the idea that it was an extravagant wedding and meant to make a very clear statement of status to the community. It's a good thing they got those "bank checks of large denomination," because I'm sure they needed help paying it off!

William and Claudia, early 1900s (poss. 1901)

I believe that they were honestly a happy couple. Just look at that tintype and try to tell me he doesn't adore her! You may also remember the goofy newspaper photo they took in 1901 (in this post).

Shared Photos

I was recently contacted by a blog writer on Oprah.com asking to use a couple of photos from my Flickr account for an article. Of course I agreed! The blog post was published today, and you can see it here. She used this photo of my great-grandmother Claudia Wetherill (Fries) Overington and one of her sisters:

What I didn't realize when I got the request was that she had come across my photos on a website called Retronaut, which had posted one of my other photos of Claudia Wetherill (Fries) Overington on October 9 as a sort of survey of the Flickr group "The Smiling Victorian." That page is here. This is the photo they used:

Retronaut edited it a bit before posting, which I somewhat disagree with because it takes away some of the feeling of oldness, but I suppose they can do as they wish. It's just a personal preference of mine to leave old photos unedited, as you can see if you've visited my Flickr gallery.

It is really amazing to know that a lot of people are looking at pictures from my family and to think that maybe they are bringing a little bit of joy into their days. 

The Women Before

These are the women of my father's side of the family.

1st Left: 4x-great-grandmother Elizabeth Love (Yarnall) Burns
1st Center: 4x-great-grandmother Elizabeth Caroline Wetherill (Earl) Riddle
1st Right: 4x-great-grandmother Elizabeth (Harding) Overington
2nd Left: 3x-great grandmother Armilda Eliza (Myers) Gammon
2nd Center: 3x-great grandmother Jenny R. (Burns) Overington
2nd Right: 2x-great-grandmother Anna Mary (Seufer) Gammon Bird
3rd Left: 2x-great-grandmother Claudia Wetherill (Fries) Overington
3rd Center: 2x-great-grandmother Sarah Helen (Smart) McKee
3rd Right: Great-grandmother Claudia "Poppy" (Overington) Newman Jones
4th Left: Great-grandmother Carrie Bernice (McKee) Gammon
4th Center: Grandmother Claudia Overington (Newman) Gammon
4th Right: Me!

Missing, because I don't have any pictures of them, are:

3x: Christina (Leopold) Seufer, Sally (Swain) McKee, Sarah H. (Pearson) Smart, Malina R. (Hawkins) Newman, Mary Margaret (Durbin) Whitfill, and Mary Earl (Riddle) Fries

2x: Rebecca Jane (Whitfill) Newman

Four Generations of Girls

Ladies of the Family, a photo by nameless.ship on Flickr.

The baby there is my aunt Mary Margaret Gammon. Holding her is her father's mother Carrie (McKee) Gammon. Left to right the others are her mother's mother "Poppy" (Overington) Jones, her mother Claudia (Newman) Gammon, and her great-grandmother Claudia (Fries) Overington.

Victorian Era Photographs

A lot of people, when they think of old photos, think of people standing or sitting stiffly in uncomfortable clothes with severe, bored expressions on their faces. This is evident in many very old photographs, it's true. This began to change as people bought their own personal cameras instead of having to hire a photographer to take a professional portrait. One of my favorite parts of researching my family history has been finding these old but expressive and sometimes intentionally comedic photographs.

The following photographs are all from my great-grandmother Poppy's family, as represented below. The individuals in blue are in the photos.

Claudia Wetherill Fries & husband William Overington II

Claudia Wetherill Fries & her sister, probably Helen Earl Fries

"Grandmother's wedding gown"

Claudia's daughters Peggy and Poppy

Claudia Wetherill Fries and her daughter Peggy