Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1859-01-19
4oms 5atsliasnts.
Celebration of a Golden Wedding

a fes 'ival took place at the residence OF Rich
ard lddings, Esq in this town. on the Afternoon
and evening Of Saturday last. the 18th inst. i
being the fftieth anniversary of his marriag,
with MISS Justiua Lewis.
The contemporaries and elderly friends of tn,
aged pair. were invited to dinner at one o IcIock
p d, Ssme forty invited gu SITS were prrseat
The Oldest # whom. had Sen eighty four win
tiers. and he youngest. fly. Each guest. on
his or her arrival. paid their rrsi rcts 10 the b:le
and grom of halt a century, aud wery e~oriiaay
received The brtir was tastriuliy IRIS d. The
Quaker style (oI her youthiui days } somewi,a
predomInauug The table was beautifully
spread. and though gres i,ar crownyd must OF
heads winch surrvundedi it. ana some trernhfing
hands held the CUPS still it isseido,n that Il hap
pier parry has partakrn OF a welding feast.
The sons. tour IN number. TALL of the clilJr~n
hving.l with their WIS aud children. (thir
,een) came in together to greet the ven, able
pair.
The only bri'lesmai 4 who fl :ittel at the first
wedding. was preseason this occasion
In the evening another patty. consisting most
ly Of married people belonging to the older fam
lilies of the Town. were present.. to the number of
about one hundred and twenty. Among these.
We noticrd the following former residents of this
plac now of Clev-lan I: M~s<rs. Geo Mygatt.
Hon ] Crowrll. JOS Perkins, Chas. Hickox and
z 5 Flint. aad their wives. AMI Mr. t H Best
About eight O'clock. at the request of the Wis
iers. Mr. Ildings gave a brief history of his
marriage aud early wed ed life. BE sail:
81 came 6rst to Warren. in Sept. 1895. AMI
remained here until the fall of 1898. when [ re.
turned to Berks county. my native place mar-
ried Miss Justina Lewis. at Reading. Pa. on the
evening of the 18th of January. 1909. at eight
O'Clock, just fifty years ago Ga the 9Th of Feb
ruary. We sta ted for Ohio. in a two horse sl,igh
with our household furniture. for which there
was plenty Of Room. Waen We reached the tip
of the Allegheny mountain. the snow was tour
feet deep; but We learned there was no snow at
the foot of the m,uatain, nor westward to Ohio.
We turned here, and went tO the house of an un-
Gle OF my wife. rho resllei in FaYettA county.
some 10 miles from Brownsville. L-aving her.
the sleigh and oae horse. proceeded to tins
place on horseback. Here I hIred a canoe, and
engaging Mr. H=nry Harsh to assist me, | went
down the Mahoning and Beaver rivers TO pea
vert,wn. and up the Ohio and Monongah- la. to
Brownsville. Taking my wife and few house
hold 6xings IN board. We hated down to Pitts
burgh where I purchased a barre of flour, and
went on. to Warren. The weather was quite
cold. and the settlers few and scatt ring. Some
rights we lodged in HOUSES near the river. and
sometimes on its hank. " itheut shelter. Some
times we had plenty to eat, and at others we
went without fool for a whole day. We were
two days getting over the Falls of The Beaver ri
yer. Mr. Harsh and mys~lf most % the TIM in
the water. Frequently up to our waists pull g
up the empty canoe, while my vine sat ON the
shore. Watching tn goo Is. which we had land
ed At the mill lam on the Mihoning. the
same process was repeated.
We reached Warren on the 2ath of April. hay
ing been twenty one days coming frnm Br.wns-
Vile. The passage could now be easily made
in q less number of hours
have been highly grat6ei 10 see all my chill
-dren and grsnd-ehiilreu together to-day. and
am deeply graceful 10 all of YOU for co ning here
tonight. and especially to those who have been
at the trouble of rom NJ from Clevelan {; hut it (
you have njoved the occasion half as much as
l have. you must feel we'll Hoping that
] may meet you all on 4 similar occasion. fifty
years hence. accept m yhest wishes aud thanks"
The remarks of Mr.. II lings were highly APP
plauded and after a sumi'tasus supper. the CON-
pany dispersed.
Since his marriage. Mr. lidings has resided
constantly in this place. and for the last forty
eight years.on the same lot where his house now
stands. He has filled several offices; IN 1890
81, he represented this county in the Legislature
In his family. he has been highly fn vorcd; all
of has suns being like hiinsel men of untIem
ished character, useful and honorable citizens.