Wedding Wednesday in 1884

My grandfather, Charles McAlpin Pyle (1893 - 1966) was the fifth child and fourth son of James Tolman Pyle and Frances Adelaide McAlpin.

Click to enlarge

My great grandparents, James T. Pyle and Adelaide McAlpin (sometimes spelled McAlpine), were married on February 12, 1884, at 673 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, the home of the bride's father, David Hunter McAlpin(e). The newspaper announcement to the right is from page 5 of the February 13, 1884, New York Daily Tribune, found at GenealogyBank.com.

The best man, named in the newspaper article as J. R. McAlpine is likely Joseph Rose McAlpin(e), (1853 - 1888), and is one of Adelaide McAlpin(e)'s brothers. Other brothers who were ushers included George Lodowick McAlpine (1856-1922) and David Hunter McAlpine, Jr. (1862-1934). Interestingly, she had four other brothers living at the time of her marriage, not listed as members of the wedding party.

One of the bridesmaids is Miss Sadie Pyle, who is the groom's sister, Sara Carter Pyle (1863-1949), who later married one of the bride's brothers, Charles Williston McAlpine.

I love the newspaper descriptions of weddings of this era, which often include many details of the dresses, jewelry and decoration. Some longer notices also include names of the "prominent people" who were guests.

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.