Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-10-03
VOL. XVII.

L
service without grave infractions of the
law which forbids the making unauthor
lied additions to the Prayer Book; seldom
was l allowed to ask the question ''Wilt
thou have this woman to be thy welded
wife =" etc., without some interruption
for if the bridegroom We're not exceed
ingly reticent, he was almost invariably
over-eager, and before | had got through
the first words, would answer, often with
pull of the forelock eyes, sir y or,
s'To be sure, sir-surely, | will So" A
request to wait until the question was
completed had the effect, as a rule, OF
driving him to the opposite extreme, and
making him most reluctant to answer II
wilr' when the proper time came. The
severest trial, however, was at the next
point in the service, and 1t was always
with sense of relief that l passed be-
yond it. "Now, will you say this after
me?" used to ask 81, John, take thee,
Mary" etc. The hesitation was occasion
ally so long that the bride grew impa-
tient, and asked, angrily, soto c0ce: 'Why
don't you say it?" which generally
brought about the desired result.
Turning to the bride-'Now, will you
say this after me; i, Mary, take thee,
John,'" etc. and, hard though 1t be to
81, Mary" or whatever the name might
be, to his partners intense disgust.
1t will easily be seen that the great ma
jority of our weddings were the reverse
of aristocratic. To what class, however,
to assign them would be difficult.
An elderly gentleman, whose card an
nounced him as an officer of rank in the
army, called upon me one evening and
produced a marriage license, saying that
he wished to be married as early as pos
sible on the following morning. Accord
ingly, he appeared with rather over
dressed lady, some twenty-five years his
junior, and, by way of witness, stout.
elderly couple of the small-tradesman
rank. All went well until the time came
for signing the registers. I asked the
usual questions, among them the profcs-
sion of the father of each party; Major
General was given and entered as the
equality, trade or profession" of the
bridegroom's parent. "Your fathers pro-
fession, if you please?" l asked the lady.
Gardener" was the reply. I thought
that her husband looked much perturbed,
but duly entered the item, and thought
no more about it until the next day, when,
to my surprise, he again called at my
lodgings, and after an elaborate eXplana-
tion as to the true position of his wife's
father, which he represented to be that
of private gentleman, earnestly re-
quested me to alter this entry in the regis
ter, adding that he was willing to pay any
fee for the same. did not, l need hardly
say, take any fee; but made the altera-
tion, with note on the margin to the
effect that it had been made by me on the
representation and at the request of the
bridegroom.
On another occasion, after the usual
three cornered note the previous evening,
found waiting at the vestry cookbook
ing but somewhat "horsey", young man
with a license in due form, but without
his bride. "Sorry to have brought you
out, SIR" he said "but I have not been
able to see the lady this morning; would
this time tomorrow be convenient ?"
thought it very strange, and so did j. B. !;
but could only acquiesce; and on the
next day he appeared, accompanied by a
pretty, but evidently much alarmed young
girl, and by an elderly man and woman.
did not at all like the business; but there
was no choice in the matter; the license
was there; and the marriage was per-
formed. Some few days afterward ]. B.
said to me: 81 had a visitor this morn
ing, sir. You remember that queer look
ing affair last week? She was daughter
of Mr.. -" (naming a gentleman of
position who lived near CO.; he was a
groom, called himself riding master, at
Els riding school. Mr.. - has just
come from Scotland, and finds his daugh-
ter gone; he came to look at the regis
ter, and declared he would never see her
again"
Only too many, fear, of the weddings
at G. would, if appearances are to be
trusted, exemplify in their after history
the truth of the saying: Marry in
haste and repent at leisure" 1t was a
constant source of wonder to see, as / did
see, day after day, respectable young
women, apparently of the better class of
domestic servants, giving themselves for
better for worse'to men of seemingly all
but the lowest type of intelligence.
Many of these marriages were only too
plainly matters less of choice than of ne
cessity. Late on one Sunday evening a
tidy-looking girl came to my lodgings
and asked if she could be married at eight
o'clock on Monday morning; the usual
hour she knew was ten, but if I could
come to the church at eight she would be
very grateful. My Sunday work at c.,
just at that time especially, was no light
matter. Sunday school at S:45, weddings
at 9:45, which were barely completed by
eleven O'Clock, the time for morning ser,
vices; this lasted till nearly one. At three
O'Clock came the afternoon service, with
sermon, and perhaps fifteen infants to
be baptised, and the necessary registering
md churchings afterward Confirmation
classes followed until 6, when I had to
take part in and to preach at the evening
service to nearly eight hundred people
And not unfrequently reached home al
7:30, onlyto find some one waiting for me
with request to visit at once sick or dy
ing person, or with a note from medica
man that child was dangerously ill, anc
should be baptized Immediately So that
having weddings at ten o'clock the mex
morning, was not over-willing to short
en- my nights rest without some specia
reason. This reason could not get from
the girl for some time, but at last it came
out: "He has got the money for the fees
sir; and know that if he has to keep i
after eight tomorrow, he'll drink itl'
"And are you really" asked, ''going tt
tie yourself for life to such man al
that?" Yes; she was, she must, she sale
and she did.
| might write much upon the amusing
scenes which the necessary registering o
IHe WeuueQ parties names, ETC., CAV
rise to. The brides, no longer the men
were the shy ones in the vestry. "Writ
your name here, if you please" "Please
sir, had rather not" "Can you write
If you cannot, make your mark" "T,
be sure l can write, sir and deal bette
than him. Can't 1, John? Why, rv
kept mothers accounts at the shop fo
=" "Then write there, and be quick
please" 81 had much rather you'd do
for me, sir" 'But l must not do it ur
less you are unable to write. "Pleast
sir, don't like" every well, then,
can't give you no marriage-lines Thi
generally overcame the scruples, and tn
true reason for the delay came out. TIL
bride did not know what name to write
her maiden name or that Of her husband
and was too shy to ask.
Then there was the spelling of tn
names, at which, must confess, ofte
had to guess, finding it impossible to oil
tain the necessary information from th
fountain head A German, who spok
English but poorly, had been married t
an English widow. She was forty -fiv'