Wedding Wednesday: Fred and Wanda (Allen) Moore and A Special Gift

Wanda (Allen) and Fred Moore, 1932

A funny thing happened when I started writing this post. After all the detailed research I've done (sometimes back to the 1500s), I realized I didn't even have the wedding date of my paternal grandparents! I don't know how I overlooked that all these years. 

That is one benefit to writing a genealogy blog. It gives you the opportunity to focus on and summarize all you know about one person or family. This exercise often leads to additional, more indepth research that I had never gotten around to before. This is usually especially true about ancestors who are not in my direct line and often do not have any descendants. I have a lot of interesting photos of ancestors who fall into this category, so this has prompted me to peer into their life a bit more than I would have otherwise. Everyone deserves to be remembered, so I am always happily satisfied to have gotten a bit of their life down for posterity.

Anyway, back to Fred and Wanda, my dad's parents. I knew they were married sometime after the 1930 Federal Census and before my aunt's birth in January 1934. When I realized that I didn't have their exact wedding date, I asked my aunt if she knew what it was. Since she didn't, I sent off an inquiry to the archivist for Washington State. Last Spring when I visited Seattle, I drove by both of my grandparents' addresses from the 1930 Census and realized that they only lived a few blocks from each other. From this I assumed that they must have met in the neighborhood, so I told the archivist that I was pretty sure that they were married in King County. I was quite surprised to receive a very quick reply with a link to their marriage certificate from Jefferson County dated September 12, 1932. I was even more surprised to see that they were both recorded as residents of Umatilla, Oregon at the time of their marriage. For me, this document has led to more questions than it gave answers: Why would they both be living in that small town just over the Washington State line BEFORE their marriage when I know they must have met each other in their Seattle neighborhood?  

My mother just told me that Wanda and Fred met in a library where Wanda was a librarian and that Wanda's family didn't approve of her marrying Fred, so maybe they ran away to Oregon together. But, then, why would they come back to Washington to marry? I don't recognize the names of the witnesses at all, so it appears they married at the Methodist Parsonage of Edmonds, Washington with neither of their families in attendance. 

Why did they get their license in Jefferson County, but get married in Snohomish County, causing the recorder to cross out "Jefferson" and write in "Snohomish" as the place for the marriage? 

Why is it marked "Unofficial"? When I inquired in this regard, the archivist explained: 

"I believe the reason it is 'unofficial' is that in 1932, marriage certificates were filed in the county in which the marriage took place, which was Snohomish County, and probably specifically Edmonds.  A copy of the certificate was filed in the county where the license was issued, which is Jefferson.  This particular record came from Jefferson County.  You might find a 'non-unofficial' record at the Snohomish County Auditor’s office.  (Marriage licenses are now file with the State Department of Health)."

It seems there is more of this story to discover.

The following is really more fitting for Treasure Thursday, but because of the serendipity involved, I will include it with this post.

Another funny thing happened today. As I was writing this post, my mom came over and gave me the fan that Wanda gave to me before she died, not knowing that I was writing about her today. It is very special because my father had given it to Wanda when he was in the Navy and then she gave it to me. On the outside of the box is his inscription to her and and hers to me: "For: Mom, From:Tony" and "For you, CeCe, now. Much love, Grandma"

The fan is made of pure ivory and purchased in Hong Kong during my dad's naval days, c.1959.  I had forgotten all about it and was pleasantly surprised to receive it today. Of course my favorite part is the writing on the box - first my dad's and then my grandmother's. I am so glad that she had the foresight and sentimentality to make this special gift. I will cherish it and, one day, add my writing to it.

Wedding Wednesday: Daniel Hewitt Proctor and Amelia "Millie" Travis, 1900

My great grandparents, Daniel and Millie (Travis) Proctor, Wedding- 1900

Right up front, I want to say that my grandmother Aune Reini Proctor said that Dan and Millie were the nicest people she ever met. Since she was their daughter-in-law, this is pretty significant. Aune met a lot of people in her 96 years of life and I never heard her say the same thing about anyone else. For this alone, they deserve to be remembered. Fortunately, this is not all that I know about them.

Thanks to the wonderful people over at Iowa Old Press who have transcribed and posted so many gems about my Travis family, I found their wedding announcement:

THE FREMONT COUNTY HERALD
October 25, 1900

Married
On October 24, 1900, at 7:00 o'clock p.m., Mr. Daniel H. Proctor and Miss Amelia Travis, Rev. E. Dickinson officiating. The wedding was a quiet one and took place at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. Travis, the immediate friends of the contracting parties only being present, with Livingston Mitchell who played the wedding march. The couple left on Tuesday morning for Omaha and will make a tour through Kansas to look up a location for a home. Their many friends extend warmest greetings and prayers for their happiness and success. 

Millie was 30 and Daniel was 34 when they married - unusually late for a first marriage in those days. I have found no evidence of an earlier marriage for either of them and in the 1900 Federal Census, just prior to the marriage, both lived with their tight-knit families. The Travises were one of the founding families in this area of Iowa and Millie was born and raised there, so it is a bit surprising that their wedding was such a quiet affair.

Daniel's family had moved from Equality, Illinois, the place of his birth, to Sidney sometime between the 1880 Federal Census and the 1885 Iowa State Census. I have not yet discovered what precipitated this move by Daniel's widowed mother, Mary Hewitt Proctor, and her children. Judging from the number of Proctors there in later censuses and in the cemeteries, it appears that others from the extended Proctor family may have been involved. Daniel's father, Ephraim, passed away in 1875, so Mary and the children may have been somewhat dependent on family members who decided to relocate. (Whatever it was, I am thankful!)

I had never heard that Dan and Millie considered living in Kansas before reading the snippet above. I have wondered what motivated them to move away from Millie's well established family in Sidney and settle in the Seattle area. This tells me that they had planned to move from the outset of their marriage, so it wasn't a spontaneous or rash decision. Judging from their children's birth dates and places, they came to Washington State between March 1903 and March 1905. Since their daughter Cleo Proctor Cavanaugh wrote in a letter from 1990 that she was born in the first house that Daniel built at 4221 Ferdinand St, Columbia City, they must have been there for awhile before her birth in March 1905 to allow time for the construction, thus narrowing the window.

4221 Ferdinand St, Columbia City, WA

I was so happy to find on my recent road trip to Washington that it still stands along with several other houses that Dan and his sons built. Isn't it pretty? It really was special to be able to touch something that my great grandfather created over 100 years ago.
[Update - Thanks to Scott R's comment below, I did some research on the house. Apparently, the current owner is running a yoga studio out of it (it must have good energy!). I will have to take a yoga class next time I am up there. Also, the state archivist is in the process of retrieving a photo of it from 1937. It was built in 1904.]

Millie and Dan spent the rest of their lives in the Seattle area and raised a happy family of four sons and one daughter. I have many photos of them in their later years, but I especially like the one below for the following two reasons:
1) They look every bit as pleasant as my grandmother Aune described them.
2) I am quite confident that I recognize the shadow on Millie's dress.

I find it a fitting metaphor that just as Aune's remembrances of Dan and Millie shaped my understanding of them, her silhouette is clearly visible in this image. In our search for our ancestors, we often find ourselves "chasing their shadows," so be sure to find out all you can about your family history from your older relatives. It may be the only real chance that you have to get to know those who have gone before you.