River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1905-01-05
GOLDEN WEDDING.
Mr.. and Mrs. S. ID. Dodge CeIe-
brate the 5Oth Anniversary
of Their Wedding.

~ olSo a. aAO 4OA1lC Vi MI. anu MIS-.
S. d. Dodge on Second street Sun
day, Jan. /, l905,-the marking of
the 50th milestone on the journey
of their united lives. "A notable an
niversary is a golden wedding, for
there are few of them that fall to
the fortunes of men and women.
So rare an occasion in the COM
munity deserves more than passing
mention and it is considered with
thoughtful reverence and dwelt up
on as an event for general congratu-
lations.
There is a remarkable co-inci-
dence in the wedding and the fftieth
anniversary of its celebration.
Both events occurred on Sunday,
and as the original ceremony was
performed on the LIST of January. as
a matter of course the anniversary
occurs on the same day of the same
month.
Sumner D. Dodge and Miss Eliza
Pratt were united in marriage at
South Weymouth, Massachusetts,,
Jan. 1, 1854. They came to this
city, then called Greenwood, in
1856, where Mr.. Dodge in the same
year put up frame building on the
site of the stone building now oc-
cupied by his son George, and
opened a hardware store. This
building was burned in the centen-
NAL year of the nations birth and
in its place the present brick build
ing was erected the same year. Mr..
Dodge continued in the hardware
business until about sixteen years
ago when he sold to the son who
still pursues the business at the old
stand.
Mr.. Dodge was prosperous III
business and as parents are more
fortunate in their children than has
fallen to the lot of most families.
Of their eight children six survive,
one, a girl died in infancy, and one,
a son, Everett, died in early man
hood. The surviving children are
credit and comfort to the parents
now in the decline of life. There
are three sons and three daughters
living: Mrs. Ella Heasley, and
George j., of this city; Mrs. Hattie
Bailey, of Seattle, Wash; Wendell.
of Ellsworth; Mrs. Anna Hernandez
of California, and Clarence S., of
Kendall. They are also blessed
with eleven grandchildren and one
great-grandchild.
The Golden Wedding was ce1e-
brated with cordial congratulations
and merriment by those present and
the children living so far away that
it was not convenient for them to
be at the celebration sent regrets,
mementos, congratulations and best
wishes. Mr.. and Mrs. Hernandez
sent a box of golden fruit from sun
ny California with appropriate fell
citations in verse. Among the orig
inal poems were the following pref
ty verses written and read by one
of the nephews:
Year after year the seasons come and seasons
go;
The green of Spring to warmer green of Sum
mer grows,
And then to ripper tints of Autumn, changing
still
Until there comes the quiet of the Winter
SHOWS.
Full fifty years have you and
Together watched the ever length ming chain
Of days.
AS pearly tint of morn and warmth of noon
Fade hour by hour till comes the twilight gray.
so have the rosy dreams of youth
Painted with eager brush on time to come,
Changed with the passing hours and days
AS Father Time adds UP the sum of years
That are to be.
The warmth OF youth mas passed away;
With ripper judgment, clearer 81 sht, we see
What is is best, and vain re grets
For things that have been an ale not
Or that night have been, vex US no more.
Loved ones there are gone on before,
But them we soon shall see;
Loved ones ere long we leave behind.
They win not soon forget the parents care,
The loving watchfulness which strove
To keep their feet within the narrow path
And better way.
They and their children and their children's
children
Will remember US with grateful hearts,
And SO we still shall live as best we'd like to
live.
Enshrined wi thin the hearts OF those we love.
Mr.. and Mrs. Dodge both bear
the burden of years lightly. They
are still erect and alert, with genial
hearts and sunny manners, and
their many friends besides their
relatives wish them many returns of
January l.
Among those present were Mrs.
Ella Heasley, Wendell Dodge and
wife and children of Ellsworth, Mr..
and Mrs. Geo. Dodge and children,
Mr.. and Mrs. Geo. Pratt, ]. E.
Flint, H. N. Pratt, G. E. Pratt, Miss