Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-07-13
Married I'm Church-A Published Ac
count Forty Years Ago.

count Forty ehTs ASos
The Hartford Courant perpetrated the
following capital burlesque on the Jenk'
inism of the present day:
About forty years have elapsed since
Maria and myself were hsrnessed.
l refer to the event now because times
have 30 changed that the present genera
ton will be interested to know how mar.
riage ceremonies were performed in the
olden time.
Wives were got differently in those
days; counting was altogether different
matrimony was another thing entirely
not being strictly matter of money.
courted my wife, generally speaking
in church pew, over the rough edge oi
an old singing book. From where she
sat could now and then catch her eye,
as l squinted over the top of the book,
and, though | am in principle opposed to
courting in church, / couldn't very well
help it then. What courting was done at
her house was mostly in the presence oi
the rest of the family. Once in a while,
however, | got the best of the old gentle
man and his wife, and had surprise
party with the girl in the front room.
These isolated cases were interesting.
suppose there has been no change since
that day in the general aspect of front
room courtship. The beauty of the thing
wasn't so much in what We said as in
what we didn't say. have heard agood
deal of conversation about popping the
question, as if it was sort of crisis in
matrimonial work to be dreaded-where
a timid man had no business; but my
experience never revealed anything
serious in that direction. If there was
any popping done, it went off gradually,
and was engaged to marry the girl be-
fore knew it. | don't have any recol-
lection of squaring myself for speech
to the young woman on that particular
topic. All know about tits, that both
of us, without any dramatic effect, came
to the understanding that the thing was
fixed. | say, therefore, that the dividing
line between waiting on girl and being
engaged to her is as difficult to find as it
is to discover where q, lamb ceases to be
lamb and becomes sheep. l stop the
comparison right here, because l have
ried to sweet little lambs, who not only
after marriage get to be sheep, but were
frst.class mules into the bargain. To be
q lamb b-courter is one thing; q wife
hammer is another.
Well, as | was about to remark, my
engagement being fixed fact, Maria and
myself decided to be married in church
The bans we're published accordingly,
and that was very good arrangement,
which, / am almost sorry to see, has gone
out of fashion. But suppose it saves
confusion in these days for many times,
as the world runs now, it wouldn't be
safe to announce q marriage a week
ahead, lest there should be some mistake
about it. Then, again, there are so many
married folks nowadays who don't
know that they are going to be until
somebody tells them of it, that upon the
whole, perhaps, it is best that the ad-
yertising business should be dropped.
To be married in church fouy years
ago was an event not to be passed by
without special notice. By the way, |
take to myself the credit of being the
first man married in the sanctuary IN
Connecticut Certainly, the thing had
never been done in my town up to the
date Of my first appearance. OF course
the affair was noised all over town for a
fortnight before the ceremony took place,
and the attendance was immense. The
editor Of the Eagle, local paper OF the
place, sat upon the gate-post outside and
iotted down in his notebook the styles as
they swept by. He, / am happy to say,
was the first newspaper man in the State
who so thoroughly comprehended the
duties of his position as TO make
speciality of styles. He has often told
me that his enterprise in that direction
increased the sale Of his paper dozen
copies some weeks, When ! passed in
and saw him sitting on the gste-post |
little thought that be would one day be
the author Of those touching lines, N
seated on q stile, Mary"
he was the identical chap, though. As
his report Of the AGAR is probably the
Genesis Of the whole business Of nAstri-
monisl reporting, it will delight, 1 am
sure, the entire community az this time
TO have t5s privilege Of reading what be
sai1i. | au9Is his snpFe erteie.
SIG fHIx0.
"0a Thursday evening last the meet
- house wss eFosded With people 70
49, --hlio marriage which
has taken place in this town. i
was Maria Jshnson. q square-shouldere-, !
red haired girl, daughter Of old johnson,
the soap-maker, and the groom MAfk
49,. - hrothar of I.nka Marke the