The Wedding

When Mother came home in the fall, I had the pleasure(?) of announcing my engagement to George McNeice. Mother was surprised, but, I think, rather pleased on the whole, as she said she would be glad to see me settled in my own home. That winter, we went to live in Craven in a house owned by Colonel Stone. We were married in this house on March 24th, 1892.

I wanted a white wedding dress, but no! Mother bought a grey with a silver stripe running through it. Then I had a Navy blue dress and a soft pearl grey wool dress, a nice pair of shoes - a big price at that time - I think three and a half dollars. They were lovely and were a size three and a half. Mother had bought me a black fur coat. Astrican, I believe, it was called. She also bought me a bedroom set. I had the first nice dresser (with a nice big swinging mirror) in the neighborhood. People came from far and near to see my bedroom set. Other people had bureaus, but mine was a new style.

Mr. Harrison, a Methodist minister from Regina, married us at two or three o’clock in the afternoon. Aunt Lizzie had made my wedding cake. She had come down and stayed several days making the cake and helping plan and arrange for the wedding.

Mother sure had me under her thumb! She would have only certain people and refused to invite several people whom I wanted to have. She swore she wouldn't have Mr. and Mrs. Swartz - Sadie's parents - but George had asked for some of the invitation cards and sent them one. Of course, Mother invited Sadie because Sadie had made my wedding dress. Oh, yes, I also had a pretty plaid luster dress, which Sadie made.

Well, imagine Mother's disgust when Mr. and Mrs. Swartz arrived at the wedding. I was glad they came. They gave me a beautiful white marcellais bedspread. Years after, when washing this spread, I put it out on the line, just to get the frosty air, then was going to bring it in and dry it in the house, when a blast of wind tore it off the line and across the street. I never found but one half of it. It was torn or cracked straight across in the middle. One half lodged against Jim Mair's garage, the other half, gone with the wind.

We had quite a wedding for those times. Mother wouldn't allow us to dance, but I guess we made out all right. I wanted to invite the Lambert boys but Mother threw up her hands in holy horror! (I thought they were nice "wolves.")

Sadie had made a surprise party for me before I was married and had invited the Lambert boys. Shame on me. Harry Lambert waylaid me on the stairs and gave me a farewell kiss (half a dozen). Oh, if Mother had only known.

At or after the wedding supper was over, everyone who could sing did so, accompanied by Isaac Sutton on his guitar. Sadie sang:

"I'll be all smiles tonight, love, I'll be all smiles tonight,

And when the door he enters, his bride upon his arm,

I'll try to look upon them and be so cold and calm,

And when he smiles upon her, as once he smiled on me,

I'll try to smile upon them though in pain my heart shall be."

There was a lot more of the same.

You see, George and Sadie had been engaged at one time, and she was being sentimental. Har! She was some gal. She now is living in Vancouver and her skin is turning black. Could be there was a "nigger in the woodpile" sometime back.

Clifford and Annie Purdy were invited to the wedding, but did not arrive in time for the ceremony. They never were on time for anything. The ceremony was over and we were out on the front lawn having our pictures taken when we saw the Purdy conveyance coming across the valley. Clifford ordered one of the pictures, as did almost everyone. When next I saw Clifford, he was so mad! Said he was going to sue my brother William for making him so ugly in the picture! Har! Har! He was ugly as a monkey; to make him look otherwise would have been impossible.

He stayed at the house where we were married for a few days, then went up to Uncle Tom's and stayed there a few days, then set out across the prairie for the homestead. Got there about dark. Got a fire started to warm the shack, which was either 12x14 or 14x16, frame and lined up inside with building paper.

We had a bed in one corner, dresser in another, stove in another, table between dresser and stove, a homemade cupboard in another -- a little square space in the center of the floor. There was a window in each end of the shack and a door in the side. That summer we built a little summer lean-to on the one side where the door was.

Go to Contents, Next or Index