Marriages (September 8)

Wedding Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. G.S. Graves Married 25 Years, A Memorable Social Event

 



List! "Tis the bells' silver chime,

Attuned to the most exquisite time;

Resonant, sweet, we hear them yet.

Their melody we'll ne'er forget

As 'mid the hush of eventide,

We recall groom and bride.

 

At their hospitable home on North Main street [Bainbridge, Chenango Co., NY], Saturday evening, March eighth, nineteen hundred and two, beneath the silver lettering of an evergreen bar, announcing the date of their marriage, and also that of their twenty-fifth anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. G.S. Graves happily received the congratulations of a host of friends and acquaintances, assembled to do them honor.  The ushers, the ladies receiving, the maids in waiting, and the registration sentinel, were happily chosen, and acceptably enacted the roles assigned them.  Two popular and well known artistes charmingly rendered the musical part of the program.  The spacious parlors and dining room were beautiful with their decorations of evergreen, roses, azaleas, carnations, clinging vines and potted plants.  Rev. Mr. Crompton in eloquent, well chosen words, voiced the sentiments of those present in congratulations of the highest degree to the host and hostess, the groom making a feeling response.  In the dining room one of the ladies presided over the coffee urn and cups, with the old-time dignity and grace, we love so well to see. An interesting bevy of our pretty Bainbridge girls served the delightful collation and "all went merry as a marriage bell."  The favors were pink and white carnations, fragrant reminders of the delightful occasion and presented to each retiring guest by petite Helen Simonds, sweet as the blossoms herself.  The gift room with its variety of souvenirs, attracted much attention and consisted of useful and ornamental tokens of an unprecedented number, and were as follows"  A lovely portrait of Mrs. Graves' grandmother, silver tea set and butter dish, silver bon-bon dish, silver cheese spoon, souvenir spoon, silver tea set, paper cutter, syrup cup, vase, salad dish, pudding dish, fruit basket, cake basket, pen holder, jelly spoon, lettuce fork, lace handkerchief, point lace doily, Battenberg doily, point lace collar, picture, hand-painted china bread tray, celery plate, jelly dish, silver coin tray cloth, table cloth, table cloth and napkins, azalea, jardinier, mahogany rocker, willow rocker, manicure set, roses, cut glass salt and pepper set, three olive forks, fruit baskets, salad fork, six berry spoons, two cream ladles, bread tray, set of fruit knives, pie knife, set of knives, two gravy ladles, one dozen sterling silver tea spoons and sterling silver olive spoon, salad fork, pin tray, nut cracker and set of nut picks, two meat forks, framed photo.  Sweden, Albany, Lake Geneva, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York city, Oneonta, Mt. Upton, Guilford, Oxford, Lyons, White Store and Utica all responded if not in person, in kindly remembrances to bride and groom, on this their twenty-fifty anniversary,   [1902]

 

Married at all Saints' Chapel (more commonly known as Morris' Memorial Chapel) Morris, N.Y., Capt William Augustus Parsons of Richmond, Va., brother of the late Homer Parsons of Bainbridge, and Miss Frances Blanche Masters, daughter of the late, Mrs. F.M. Masters of Upton Park, Otsego county, and granddaughter of the late Richard Morris, on the morning of Wednesday, April 17, 1901, by Rev. George n. Mead, priest of Christ church, Gilbertsville. [1901]

 

The above announcement is worthy of more than passing notice.  A noble descendant of one of the oldest and best families of the county, the bride is a highly accomplished, intellectual, womanly woman, and hosts of friends unite in wishing her unalloyed joy and happiness.  The late Mrs. Frances Morris Masters, mother of Mrs. Parsons, nee Miss Blanche Masters, was a remarkable woman in many ways; exceedingly entertaining and interesting were her reminiscences of many noted personages and families with whom she had been intimately associated, among whom were the Tudors of Boston, the Vanderbilts of New York and the author and novelist, Fenimore Cooper and sister, of Cooperstown.  Related in her inimitable and vivid manner, these remembrances of dear friends, charmed and captivated the writer of this sketch to an unwonted degree, thereby proving the truth of the old adage, "Truth is stranger than fiction," and as in this instance, sometimes more fascinating. It is reported, the entire Vanderbilt family attended this estimable lady's wedding, which occurred in Gilbertsville, Otsego county, in the long ago.  Upton Park, the Morris homestead, and the Masters' home, was formerly a residence of much interest and delightfully situated, where Mrs. Frances Morris Masters, with her son and daughter dispensed old time hospitality with the kindly grace and courtesy, ever typical of a noble race, and indeed the best of a heritage.  Volumes of priceless love, statuary, costly bric-a-brac, curios of inestimable value, made this home one of unusual interest to those familiar with the treasures hidden within the walls of the ancient mansion.  The grounds were beautiful in the old days, with the wealth of shrubbery, and the stately monarchs of the forest, spreading shade, and guarding as it were the inmates of this model country home.  Deer browsed in the park unharmed, lifting their delicate heads with the dainty motion peculiar to them, and sniffing the perfumed air from the nearby woods in supreme satisfaction.  Truly! abundant resources were furnished here, for the most extravagant of imaginings, or prosaic realism.  A few years ago Mrs. Master's face was a familiar one in Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY], as she came to visit her friend, Mrs. D.S. Bristol, their acquaintance and friendship dating back to the time, when Mrs. Bristol, too, was an Otsegonian, and resident of Morris, N.Y.