Wedding Wednesday - 50th Anniversary of Thomas Davey & Mary Nicholas 23 May 1882

 I was researching in NewspaperArchive.com, searching for newspapers in Jeffersonville, Clark county, Indiana for any article about the Davey and Wollenweber families.  I found some gems and this is one of the best.

   In the 24 May 1882 issue of the Jeffersonville Daily Evening News, on page 2, was a very nice article about the 50th wedding anniversary celebration of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Davey. The story starts out with some facts about their nuptials in Cornwall and then some very nice things about Mr & Mrs Davey:

"Golden Nuptials," A Pleasant Celebration by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Davy.
    Mrs.[sic] Thomas Davy and Miss Mary Nicholos were married May 23d, 1882 at St. Agnes Church, St. Ann's Parish, Cornwall, England, by Rev W. V. Snowe.  This venerable and highly respected couple have been living in Jeffersonville for twenty-three years.  They are greatly respected by their many friends in this city for their many virtues as good citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Davy have raised a large family of children, all of whom bear good characters, and have followed the scriptural injunction "honor thy father and mother."

   Note there were several misspellings: Davy for Davey and Nicholos for Nicholas.

   One of the best part of the article was where it listed their living children along with their residences.  This will give me clues as to where to find them in census and city directories.  Here is the transcription:

   Mr and Mrs Davy have seven children living to wit: Mrs. John J. Flynn, of Jeffersonville; Mrs. Wellman, of Cincinnati; Thos. Davey, of Carthage, Mo.; Mrs. Mary Hawkins of Lawrenceburg; Mrs. Colby, of New York; Mrs. Rose McFall, of Indianapolis; and Fred Davey, of Carthage, Mo.  Those present of the children last evening were Mrs. Flynn, Mrs. Wellman and Mrs. McFall.  Also Mrs. Elwood Dedrick, grand-daughter of the bride and groom.  The others were kept away by unavoidable circumstances.

    Mrs. John J Flynn is Thomas and Mary's eldest child, Elizabeth.  Mrs. Wellman is their second child, Susan. Thos Davey is their third child, Thomas Nicholas. Mrs Mary Hawkins is Mary Jane Davey, and a new surname for me!  Mrs. Rose McFall is Catherine Rose Davey, and Fred Davey is their youngest son, the only one born in the United States.  He is our ancestor; my husband's great grandfather.

   The last paragraph has more flowery narrative about the couple, written in that 20th century prose:

   The News congratulate Mr and Mrs Davey, as well as their numerous progeny on this very happy occasion, and altough [sic] Mr and Mrs Davey are now 75 and 71 respectively, we trust there are many years of quiet happiness in store for them. But be this as it may, it can be truthfully said they have lead a noble life.  Mrs. Davey has always been active in the temperance reform, and her husband has ever stood conscientiously for every measure he believed to be for the public good.  There are few better people than Mr. and Mrs. Davey, and they are well deserving of the good old age they now enjoy.

   These accounts of milestones when written up in newspapers can bring such depth to your family history and many clues for you to further your research.  If I hadn't already known about their marriage in Cornwall, this accounting would have given me clues to which parish they were married in.  Surprisingly, the information  completely coincides with the marriage records from Cornwall.  If only the information about when they arrived in the U.S. was consistent.
 

Copyright © 2013 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past