The marriage of Edna McConick to James Horan

Edna was my great-aunt on my mother's side.  Many of the materials I have are because of her daughter, Elna Newell.  Elna was a great friend to my mother in addition to being her cousin.  They lived together for a time when my mother first arrived in Wisconsin from Florida.  My mother spent many years visiting Elna as she aged and grew more frail.  I think she hoped Elna would leave her something from her estate, but to my knowledge, that didn't happen.

There are two newspaper articles about the marriage.  The skinny one says the following:
"Married.  Horan - McConick.  A quiet, home wedding took pace at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. D. Frank McConick on Wednesday, September 21st, 1904, at 5 o'clock p.m., when their eldest daughter, Miss Edna Orville and Mr. James F. Horan of Burlington Flats, N.Y., were joined in the holy bonds of matrimony.  Only relatives and avery few intimate of the contracting parties were present.  Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Sweet acted as matron of honor and best man.

The bride and matron of honor were attired in costumes of white silk, and the gentlemen in the conventional black.

The ceremony took place under a beautiful archway of autumn-tinted leaves, fees and wild flowers, Rev. A.H. Smith officiating.  After the ceremony the happy couple were congratulated by all present, after which the were ushered in the the adjoining parlor where the many beautiful wedding presents were displayed.  Following this the company adjourned to the dining room, where the wedding dinner was served.  One pretty incident, was the wearing by the bride of a beautiful, heavily embroidered, white silk shawl, which was worn by her great-aunt upon her wedding day.

The bride is a Friendship girl, most of her life having been passed in the village.  She has many friends among her former schoolmates and people of the village, and is a bright, amiable young lady. The groom is to be congratulated upon winning so fair a bride.

Mr. Horan is a stranger here coming just a few days before the ceremony, but is of a gentlemanly and pleasing appearance, and has favorably impressed the people who have had the pleasure of meeting him.

The young couple will make their future home here, and the PRESS joins their many friends in extending congratulations and best wishes.

The next article is longer and I hope I can piece it together because it's beginning to fall apart.  It is over 100 years old.  The date is September 21, 1904.  This article says:

Married.  McConick-Horan.  A quiet wedding took place at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank McConick, Wednesday evening of last week, at five o'clock p.m. when Miss Edna McConick and Mr. J. F. Horan were united in marriage.  Only relatives and a very few intimate friends being invited.  Mr. and Mrs. Sweet acted as matron of honor and best man to the young couple.

The ladies were attired in costs of white silk while the gentlemen ______ (word there is gone) the conventional black  The ceremony took place beneath a beautiful arch of autumn tinted ferns, leaves and wild flowers, the Rev. A.H. Smith speaking the words that made them forever one.  Congratulations were then t_ ____red (tendered?) by all present and the united _____ (couple?) were ushered into the adjoining parlor to view the many beautiful gifts presented.  They were next led to the dining room _______ take of the sumptuous dinner ________ there spread.

The bride is one of the popular among women of the village with many friends.  She has lived here from childhood and is graduate of our high school.  She possesses the qualities requisite to _____ a happy home, the plan where woman is queen.  The groom is a native of New York state having been morn at _____r.  (?)  He now come from Burlington Flats N.Y. where is has lived many years.  He is a stranger in these parts but comes well recommended as a man of good character and business ability.

The list of presents were as follows:  A.F. Hill, check for $25; G.H. Campbell, check for $5, J.R. Vroman (this would be my great-great-grandfather) check for $5, Mrs. J.R. Vroman (my great-great-grandmother) table cloth and one dozen napping; Miss Holm and Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Smith, fine center table; Mr. and mrs. Sweet, silver mounted carving set; Mr. and Mrs. M. H. Clark, Chicago, silver pie knife, meat fork and gold lined berry spoon; Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Stafford, silver mounted crumb tray and brush; Mr. and Mrs. E. Stafford, silver pickle fork; Mrs. O.E. toilette, Delton, Wis., china fruit dish; Mr. and Mrs. Rev. Smith, china cracker jar; Mr. and Mrs. J.K. Osgood, silver nut picks and cracker; Miss Irma McConick (my grandmother), silver cake basket; Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Whiting, Portage, Wis., pair fancy linen towels; Miss Mary Girling, pair fancy towels; Mr. and Mrs. F. McConick silver gold lined set of teapot creamer, spoon holder and sugar bowl, 1 doz. silver knives and forks, 1 doz. silver teaspoons 1 doz. silver dessert spoons, 1 doz. silver tablespoons, 1 silver butter knife, 1 silver sugar spoon; Mrs. F. McConick, wash bowl and pitcher, 1 table cloth and 1 doz. napkins, 1 doz. linen towels and bed linens, furniture and household goods to numerous to mention.

The young couple will make their home in the village.  The REPORTER _________ in wishing them all kinds of joy and a long life.

There are so many interesting things here.  It sounds like the family had a modicum of wealth. I wonder what happened?  It certainly didn't pass to us.  I wonder where all these items ended up?

Unfortunately, these two did not have a long life.  Edna was born in 1880 and she died in July 9, 1909 so she only had five years in her marriage.  My family lore says that she fell down the stairs at home and broke her neck.  She was 29 years old and left behind a small baby girl, Elna Horan Newall.  Edna died in 1973, and thanks to her, I have all these wonderful treasures.  Thank you, cousin.

Great-Aunt Edna's Reward of Merit

This card was with other documents from my mother's side of the family.  It was a 'Reward of Merit.'  The back says 'Minnie' who would have been Edna's mother, and 'Edna'.  There is something written in pencil but I can't decipher it.  I'll have to get a magnifying glass to see it.

This website talks about these cards.  https://ancestorville.com/blogs/articles/rewards-of-merit

"During the Victorian Era, school children were given paper ephemeral rewards for good behavior, called a Reward of Merit. The top of the card usually reads "Reward of Merit," with the well behaved students name written below, followed by the signature of the teacher who issued the reward. A family may have saved these tokens of merit and recognition throughout the years. "

A birth announcement and a Christmas card from Grandma and Aunt Nancy

Birth announcements in local papers were something very common in the small Midwestern town where I grew up.  So were engagements and deaths.  I believe they were our way of marking the milestones of our lives, finding a way to matter and before social media, it was the way you could notify your family and friends of your big events.  

The Christmas card is from my Grandmother Curry and her daughter, my Aunt Nancy.  It was in 1995 and my grandmother was starting to decline.  She had moved to Reedsburg to be closer to Aunt Nancy who had the responsibility for her care.  Grandma writes:  "Kimberly, The days are slipping away --- still have cards to write.  On my birthday, Bob and Pam came and took us out to lunch --- enjoyed that.  Then group I play cards with called today to come and play bridge but I didn't go.  Had a fall in house last night so was sort of lame.  Didn't think I broke any bones but I was lucky.  Don't know how it happened either --must have caught my shoes on my slacks or something."  She signs it 'Grandmother Curry.'  I wish I would have appreciated these efforts more when they were occurring.  I'm so grateful I still have the cards.  They are precious.  I think about my grandmother, health failing, falling in the house and hurting herself, yet she still took the time to sit down and write to me, her granddaughter.  That's love.

My daughter, Courtney Franklin

This is Coco, my first born.

I found the photo filed away with other documents from my family.  Courtney couldn't remember the circumstances surrounding it either, so I don't feel so badly.  She was at the home of Linda and Tom Holmes, babysitting for their daughter, Amy.  Amy recognized the landscape, and her mom, Binny to me, said that the pups were border collies.

Amy says that Courtney was the best babysitter ever.  I believe that.  She's got a way with kids and with animals.  She's an awesome auntie to her nieces, Lili and Aaliyah.

Grandpa James Curry's family members

Finding these photos was such a gift.  My Aunt Nancy sent them to me many years ago along with a letter.  She was always kind and loving towards me, and I still miss her and think of her.

Grandpa Curry's family was somewhat of a mystery to me.  I don't recall him talking about them with me, and my father never knew that side of the family very well either.  I'll try to put in what bits of information I recall from my conversations over the years.  Still, it would be interesting to know what the big deal was that kept them from speaking to one another.

This photo is my great-grandfather, William Curry.  I never met the man nor did I know anything about him.  He looks quite dapper.  Could he be a mobster?  That's my imagination running amok.  I gave my son, Ryan, his name as a middle name.  All I know is the Curry's are supposedly Irish.  There was some rift alluded to by my grandmother and my father, but it was never spoken of and I never knew enough to ask about it in the time when I could have.

The next three photos are of Clyde Curry.  The middle photos is labeled 1917.  I wonder what he did?  I hope that my research will reveal something because he looks so dressed up nicely.  He looks intelligent to me.  I hope that's true.  He played the trombone, and that tells me that music runs in both sides of my family.  Clyde served in World War I.  The photo is labeled that way, but I don't have the exact year nor do I know the location of where that photo was taken.  It looks like a rural European farmhouse but that really isn't telling me very much.

The next photo is a man and woman.  The photo identifies them as "Aunt Hazel, Dad's sister" so that would be my Grandfather Curry's sister, and the man as Uncle Clarence who I then assume to be her husband.  Again, I hope research will give me more information.  I don't know anything about Hazel. I heard her name occasionally but other than that, nothing that can fill in the blanks.  Again, they look like they are well dressed and they don't look as miserable as many photos from this era I've seen.  I wonder what their story might be?

The last photo from this collection is my grandfather's baby sister, Aunt Helen.  She's my great-Aunt Helen.  I never met her, but she's the one I heard the most about because she lived in California.  In the years I was growing up, California was Hollywood and a magical place, a land of dreams and opportunity.  Whether or not she had any part of that, I don't know.   Look at her cool flapper hat!  This is a photo she sent to my grandparents.

My Grandmother and Grandfather's family members

These photos were provided to me by my Aunt Nancy.  She was my father's sister, and I loved her very much.  She was always kind and loving towards me, and my memories of her are of a kind hearted person who loved her family.

The first photo is my Grandmother Leona Curry's family.  The year is 1910, and from left to right we have Lorna, Fred (great-grandfather), Floyd, Ida (great-grandmother) and my grandmother, Leona.  In the front row we have Kenneth and Genevieve.

The next photo is labeled 1920, and we have from left to right Leona (my grandmother), Floyd, Genevieve, Kenneth, and Lorna.  in the front row are my great-grandparents, Fred and Ida Steffen.
Fred died before I was born.  I remember my great-grandmother somewhat.  She sat in a chair and moved around very slowly.  She had one of those old wood stoves and would always be boiling water in a kettle while adding wood to the stove.  She was also very ill at the end of her life, and I remember seeing her in a nursing home.

The next photo is my grandparents, James and Leona Curry.  The photo is labeled 1920.  They were young and probably very much in love.  Grandma was an amazing person.  She was graceful, beautiful, musically gifted, intelligent and full of life.  She was loving towards us, and we spent considerable time with her as children.  She played the piano at the movie theater in the years when they had silent movies.  She was the organist at her church for decades.  I remember her dressing up with black teeth and peasant clothes, riding a float and blowing a kazoo for some local yokel parade in her small town of Adams-Friendship, Wisconsin.

The last one in this bunch is my grandfather James and my grandmother, Leona, standing in front of a house that is unknown to me.  It's 1953, and they are holding my eldest cousin, Debbie Horkan.  Grandpa was a conductor on the railroad.  He would be gone for days at a time and then back for days at a time.  I never liked it when he came back.  He was strict and I thought quite mean.  He slammed my fingers in the piano because it was disturbing to him.  I probably was banging on it but I mean, come on.  But that's how things were in the 50s.  My Aunt Nancy mentions in her letter to me that she placed Grandpa's conductor uniform with the historical society in Adams and she mentions that they did display it very well.  The next time I get to Wisconsin, I'll have to run up to Adams and see if it's still there.

Grandpa Nelson was a dentist

This is a photo of Perry Haughton Nelson, my mother's father.  The family started out in Adams-Friendship, Wisconsin, and moved to Cocoa, Florida, where my grandfather set up his dentist's office in his home.  My grandmother sold real estate and drove her own car which apparently was scandalous at the time.

Equally scandalous was my grandfather's love of alcohol and gambling.  That's scary when you think about it.  A dentist who is imbibing.  I never knew the man.  He died when my mother was 18 years old.  In fact, that was the catalyst that sent her to the North and her destiny, my father.

I only know about him through my mother's view.  In her mind, he was the best father on the planet.  When her mother and father divorced, my mother wanted to live with him.  It seems like that happened for the most part because my grandmother was eventually locked away in a mental institution.

They had the means to build wealth.  Both were intelligent, well-educated people.  They seemed not to be able to live with each other or without each other.  They were married and divorced to each other twice.  During the first marriage, my uncle, Perry McConnick Nelson, was born and during the second marriage my mother, Gloria Marilyn Nelson.

I don't know about the triggers or other factors that went into the way the family disintegrated.  I only know the after affects and what came after.

My sister took my mother to Cocoa on a visit in the ten years preceding her death.  During one of the visits, they stopped at the home and asked to go in and look around.  My mother recognized her old room but of course much remodeling had taken place and everything had changed.  The current owner of the house told the story of doing a remodel and during they dig they had unearthed multiple empty beer bottles and they always wondered why.