Wedding Day: August 24, 1914
My paternal grandparents, Arnold J Coppock and Ethel (nee Ferguson) Coppock, were married in Dakota City, Nebraska, on the 24th of August, 1914. The story below is verbatim from Grandma Coppock's written notes. Thanks to my cousin Connie, these were faithfully typed from the original.
In the summer of 1914 Arnold was still at his sister Goldie's and Tom's (Hummel) farm. He used to get so lonely out there. One day Goldie and the kids came to visit Grandma Coppock (Mary Jane (Horton) Coppock, and she then came down to visit my mother (Elizabeth Ashton Ferguson). She asked my mother if I could go home with her for over Sunday. Mama said, "I'll have to ask her father. We don't let our children go away from home very much."
So Mama asked my father (Michael Ferguson) if it would be okay for me to go, and he said, "Yes, but she can only stay until Monday morning. So I took my good blue shoes, a housedress, and nightie, so we could go to church on Sunday. Tom, Goldie's husband, was such a nice person and he was so glad to see me. So was Arnold. So before supper, Arnold said, "Will you marry me?" I said, "I cannot. My Dad wouldn't want me to. I am too young." (Darrell's note: Grandma was 16, about to turn 17 in September 1914.)
"Well," Arnold said, "I got the ring and you have your engagement ring. Tomorrow we will get married and we will then tell your folks."
So, in the morning I dressed up and so did he. Goldie thought he was taking me home. He hitched up his horse to a nice buggy and away we went. When we got to Sioux City, a streetcar came along and "Babe" reared up on her back feet and I thought she was going to hit the streetcar. It took all of Arnold's strength to hold her back. She was white with foam, as she was so frightened. But we got to the livery barn and put her in there.
Then we got on to a streetcar to go to Dakota City. We got there about 10AM and we went to the courthouse. I was shaking all over because I knew my folks would be mad at me. Arnold had already bought my wedding ring and so we got married! He put on my gold band ring, and we were congratulated by the people who were there. We stopped and had dinner at a restaurant. I think it was over 90 degrees on August 24th. It was a terribly hot day. We stopped at a farmer's windmill to get a cold drink of water.
Then on to Goldie's we went, to call my folks, and then go home to get my clothes and to get my "sermon" from my folks. But they God blessed us and wished us well. My father said, "You take good care of my girl; you are responsible for her now."
We stayed at Goldie's from late August to November, then we got a real cute apartment. We went skating that winter and had so much fun. Arnold got a job at the nursery, grafting trees. We lived right across the street. In March, we found a cute little house. We lived there for a year and then we found a nice cottage close to my home and to his folks.
Then, on January 19, 1916, Ashton came to bless our home.
On December 13, 1917, we were blessed with our second son, Clyde.
From Darrell: I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. My grandparents were married 61 + years. They lived through two world wars, the Great Depression, and the booming 50's, 60's and 70's. In my personal view, they were absolutely the best grandparents a young boy could ever hope to have. They also lived to enjoy the birth and early years of great-grandkids whom they adored.
Thank you for reading this blog.
DAC
In the summer of 1914 Arnold was still at his sister Goldie's and Tom's (Hummel) farm. He used to get so lonely out there. One day Goldie and the kids came to visit Grandma Coppock (Mary Jane (Horton) Coppock, and she then came down to visit my mother (Elizabeth Ashton Ferguson). She asked my mother if I could go home with her for over Sunday. Mama said, "I'll have to ask her father. We don't let our children go away from home very much."
So Mama asked my father (Michael Ferguson) if it would be okay for me to go, and he said, "Yes, but she can only stay until Monday morning. So I took my good blue shoes, a housedress, and nightie, so we could go to church on Sunday. Tom, Goldie's husband, was such a nice person and he was so glad to see me. So was Arnold. So before supper, Arnold said, "Will you marry me?" I said, "I cannot. My Dad wouldn't want me to. I am too young." (Darrell's note: Grandma was 16, about to turn 17 in September 1914.)
"Well," Arnold said, "I got the ring and you have your engagement ring. Tomorrow we will get married and we will then tell your folks."
So, in the morning I dressed up and so did he. Goldie thought he was taking me home. He hitched up his horse to a nice buggy and away we went. When we got to Sioux City, a streetcar came along and "Babe" reared up on her back feet and I thought she was going to hit the streetcar. It took all of Arnold's strength to hold her back. She was white with foam, as she was so frightened. But we got to the livery barn and put her in there.
Then we got on to a streetcar to go to Dakota City. We got there about 10AM and we went to the courthouse. I was shaking all over because I knew my folks would be mad at me. Arnold had already bought my wedding ring and so we got married! He put on my gold band ring, and we were congratulated by the people who were there. We stopped and had dinner at a restaurant. I think it was over 90 degrees on August 24th. It was a terribly hot day. We stopped at a farmer's windmill to get a cold drink of water.
Then on to Goldie's we went, to call my folks, and then go home to get my clothes and to get my "sermon" from my folks. But they God blessed us and wished us well. My father said, "You take good care of my girl; you are responsible for her now."
We stayed at Goldie's from late August to November, then we got a real cute apartment. We went skating that winter and had so much fun. Arnold got a job at the nursery, grafting trees. We lived right across the street. In March, we found a cute little house. We lived there for a year and then we found a nice cottage close to my home and to his folks.
Then, on January 19, 1916, Ashton came to bless our home.
On December 13, 1917, we were blessed with our second son, Clyde.
From Darrell: I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. My grandparents were married 61 + years. They lived through two world wars, the Great Depression, and the booming 50's, 60's and 70's. In my personal view, they were absolutely the best grandparents a young boy could ever hope to have. They also lived to enjoy the birth and early years of great-grandkids whom they adored.
Thank you for reading this blog.
DAC
While I was reading this I could picture Grandma telling this story. A lot of good memories that I hadn't thought of in a while came back to me and I agree with Dad they were so kind, so great and I too adored them. She always called him Pops and I wonder where that nickname came from?
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