Matson Insurance has partnered with Jefferson County History Center to offer exploreJeffersonpa.com readers a look into Jefferson County’s past. Today, the history of the first wedding in Jefferson County is highlighted.
[Pictured above: Like many early 20th-century brides, Rosetta Frank Edelblute, the mother of two daughters who were married in the History Center parlor, did not wear white. (JCHS Collection)]
(Article submitted by Carole Briggs, Jefferson County Historical Society.)
GET ME TO THE CHURCH ON TIME!
The first wedding noted by Kate Scott in her history of the county did not take place in a church building, but in a cabin near the county line. In the winter of 1825 or 1826, the Rev. Gara Bishop, who lived in Clearfield County, drove his horse and sleigh 20 miles to the home of the groom, a cabin that “stood lonesome and forlorn in the midst of the white waste.”
The minister asked if he could get food for himself and his horse, but was told there was none, after which the young man announced that the bride was on her way. Soon, two women came wading through the snow. The bride-to-be carried a bundle under her arm, and once inside, climbed the ladder to the cabin loft and changed into her wedding dress. Following the simple ceremony, the groom asked his new wife if she’d brought anything to eat, and she produced a loaf of bread. The preacher ate, then traveled 20 miles home to feed his horse. All this for the $1 paid by the groom!
On the western border of the county―near present-day Corsica―Presbyterians built the Bethel Church in 1824, and it may be there that Henry Keys married Catherine Wilson in 1826.
By 1854, when Mary Gordon married George Stewart Graham on Christmas Day, Brookville had been named the county seat, the courthouse and jail were built, and there were houses and churches, but Mary Gordon chose to be married in a home on S. Pickering Street. Adda Edelblute also chose to be married at home in the parlor when she wed Elmer Pearsall in the summer of 1890, just as her sister had done several years earlier.
The Edelblutes lived on the second floor of the building that is now the History Center. The parlor was elegant with wallpapered walls and ceiling and with a flamboyant turquoise and gold carpet on the floor. Following the ceremony, Adda’s parents, Nathan and Rosetta Edelblute, entertained 200 guests who dined and danced in the ballroom, the gallery that is now the setting for the Bowdish model railroad.
In July 1909, the Bowdish Stock Company was performing “Her Fatal Marriage” on a stage in Reynoldsville. Following the performance, leading man Joe Angell invited the audience to remain as the local Baptist minister performed the marriage service that united Joe with Charley’s sister, Alice. At that time, Charley was also performing in his father’s stock company and had not yet begun his life’s work with miniature and model railroads.
Long before churches became the common venue for weddings, ceremonies took place in cabins, private homes, and even a theater stage!
Copyright@Jefferson County Historical Society, Inc.
Throwback Thursday is brought to you by Matson Insurance in Brookville.
Submitted by the Jefferson County History Center.
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