Wednesday, May 18, 2011

A small 1931 family wedding: Wedding Wednesday

My mother's parents were married on September 5, 1931, in Princeton, New Jersey. I have a few items from this wedding. The announcement:
They had originally planned to marry in October 1931, but my grandfather's mother was ill and not expected to live long, so they moved the wedding back to September 5. The groom's mother, my great-grandmother Ethel May (Greeley) Copeland, died on October 3, 1931, in Princeton.

I have a small book from the wedding, titled "The Order for the Solemnization of Marriage from the Book of Common Worship" published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication in 1927 (Philadelphia) which includes the wedding ceremony and a marriage certification in the middle. At the end of this book are a few pages where guests can sign their names. Scanned copies of these pages are below:

Lowell Copeland (groom's father)
Percy E. Hunter (bride's father)
Marguerite L. Hunter (bride's mother)
Ruth L. Wells (groom's mother's aunt)
Helen H. Follansbee (bride's father's sister)
Lois H. Follansbee (bride's cousin)
Mary F. Follansbee (bride's cousin, and Lois' twin)
Mary L. Hunter (bride's sister)
Caroline H. Oliver (bride's sister)
William R. Oliver (bride's brother-in-law)
Ruth L. Copeland (groom's sister)
Lawrence Whitcomb (groom's sister's husband-to-be)
Ruth L. Greeley (groom's mother's sister)
Rose Dunbar Gay (groom's cousin, daughter of his father's sister)
William H. Dunbar Jr. (groom's cousin, son of his father's sister)
Margaret L. Hunter (bride's sister)


William U. Follansbee III (bride's cousin)
Paul MacClintock (groom's brother-in-law)
Elizabeth S. MacClintock (groom's sister)
Lucia Lander MacClintock (groom's niece)
Copeland MacClintock (groom's nephew, less than 1 year old)
Ethel M. Copeland (groom's mother)

I have identified all of these guests in my family tree. They are all related in some way to either the bride or groom.

The wedding took place at the home of the groom's parents. I believe that the Copelands were living in Princeton because their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was married to a geology professor at Princeton University, Paul MacClintock. Their other daughter, Ruth, later married a geology professor at Lehigh University, Lawrence Whitcomb. They were both in attendance at this wedding.

Following is a photograph of the guests, as identified by my mother. I have attempted to identify the [unknown] in this photograph based on the guest list above, and what I have in Family Tree Maker on these family members. It's been a fun puzzle (for a genealogist)! Note that Ethel Copeland, the groom's ill mother, and Copeland MacClintock, an infant, are not pictured.
If other family members reading this can confirm the identity any of those indicated as [?unknown], please let me know.

l. to r. William R. Oliver, Lawrence Whitcomb, Caroline H. Oliver, Mary L. Hunter, Lowell Townsend Copeland (groom), Mary Follansbee, [?unknown - William H. Dunbar, Jr.], Helen Lysle Hunter (bride), [?unknown - Helen Follansbee], Percy E. Hunter, Ruth Copeland, Marguerite L. Hunter, [?unknown - Rose Dunbar Gay], Margaret L. Hunter, Lois Follansbee, Ruth Greeley, Ruth Wells, [?unknown - William U. Follansbee III], Paul MacClintock; l. to r. in front: Lucia MacClintock, Lowell Copeland, Elizabeth MacClintock

The bride's family:

l. to r. Caroline H. Oliver, William R. Oliver, Helen L. Hunter (bride), Percy E. Hunter, Marguerite L. Hunter, Margaret L. Hunter, Lowell Townsend Copeland (groom), Mary L Hunter


The happy couple:

Helen Lysle Hunter and Lowell Townsend Copeland


Wedding Wednesday is a daily blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers, the genealogy community’s resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors. 

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