"The Bride and Groom Terminate a Life-Long Friendship"

At a lovely ceremony on September 12, 1915, George Yager, Jr., married Pearl Severance. The young bride — she was only 17 or 18 — wore a gown of lustrous silk trimmed with net and spangles; her sister, as matron of honor, wore the gown she had worn for her own wedding three years earlier. The Rev. E.R. Schuelke officiated, "reading the same service that he read twenty-four years before for the bride's parents," said the Gazette, "… and the bride and groom terminate a life-long friendship by the act." As I continue in my reading, I hope to find out if, in fact, marriage ended their friendship!

The Yagers and the Severances, according to the Gazette, were "two of the most highly esteemed families of this community." The Yager family had been farming their own land in Ross Township for over three decades, and George Sr. and his wife, Anna, owned a nice spread southeast of Ainsworth. The bride's parents, George and Agnes Severance, had not been in residence as long and their farm was rented, but none of that affected the high regard in which they were held, as shown by the large attendance at the wedding. Over a hundred covers were laid at the wedding dinner for "only the relatives and most intimate friends of the bride and groom." And an avalanche of wedding presents fell upon the young couple — so many gifts that the Gazette needed two issues to list them all.

The newspaper actually listed the gifts and their donors. I looked through the lists for any gift from Uncle Fred Yager, but in vain. A bed spread and robe were given by "Mr. and Mrs. F. Yager," but I believe that means Mr. and Mrs. Frank Yager — Frank being the groom's youngest uncle — who were also listed as out-of-town guests, coming in from South Chicago. No mention anywhere of Uncle Fred. We've not heard a single word from Uncle Fred since he was building that "up-to-date bungalow" on his little farm with Jerome Chester's money. Apparently that new house failed to work any great changes in his life: if it had lured his wandering wife back, surely he would have crowed about it loudly enough to be heard by a Hobart newspaper.

My wild imagination pictures Uncle Fred, now a settled misanthrope, sitting alone in his new bungalow, holding in his hands the invitation to his nephew's wedding — thinking about the wrongs his wife had done him, and muttering things about "Fools!" and "No good will come of this!" and "Darned if I'll waste my money on this nonsense!"

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The young couple traveled east for a honeymoon voyage. It was relatively brief, and before the week was out they were back at the Yager farm. The Gazette described what happened the night of their return:

At a late hour the same night they were awakened by a war-like demonstration from "the boys." The groom was dragged out of bed, carried to a waiting auto and hustled to Ainsworth — in his pajamas — where he was held and made to act as host for several hours before he was allowed to go home where his wife was most anxiously waiting for him.

"To Ainsworth" he was hustled — I'm guessing that means the saloon.

By early October the newlyweds had fled to Chicago, setting up housekeeping at 2507 55th Street, where they were safe from the rough fondness of the Ainsworth "boys." (George Jr. had been working for the Grand Trunk Railroad for several years, so perhaps he just got a transfer to the railroad's Chicago operations.)


Sources:
♦ "General News." Hobart Gazette 24 Sept. 1915.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 8 Oct. 1915.
♦ "More Wedding Presents." Hobart Gazette 24 Sept. 1915.
♦ "Personal and Local Mention." Hobart News 16 Sept. 1915.
♦ "Well-Known Couple Wed." Hobart Gazette 17 Sept. 1915.