This mid-19th century engraving hints at the small-scale celebration involved in a marriage,* but it would be misleading to think that many of my ancestors' unions would have taken place in such opulent surroundings.
[Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. The wedding. Forrest, J. B. (John B.) (ca. 1814-1870) (Engraver)
Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-d187-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99]
As far as we know, none of my direct ancestors got married on Christmas Day but there are two couples whose weddings took place on December 24th:
My 3X great grandparents Jesse Warren Jr. and Timney P. Watts married on on December 24th, 1824, in Morgan County, Georgia and 2X grandparents George Marion Tomlinson and Elizabeth "Betsey" Taylor on Christmas Eve, 1860 in Washington County, Iowa.
Coincidently neither of these couples were destined to have a long life together. Jesse Warren Jr. died a little over a year later (when his only child was an infant) and Betsey Taylor Tomlinson disappeared from records about the time of her daughter Rufina's birth in early 1863. Both surviving spouses married again; their second unions lasted for decades and produced more children.
Why get married during the Christmas season? This blogpost by findmypast focuses on England but I think some of the same reasons would be relevant for U.S. couples.
*You can find a description of mid-19th century wedding preparations here at a blog by NYC's Merchant’s House Museum.
© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.
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