On this date one hundred years ago Roy Dale and Viola Riley of Normal Illinois took the train to Chicago and married each other. Roy's father, when he heard of it, stated to reporters that he disapproved of the marriage and that he was taking the first train to Chicago to bring his son home. Mr. Dale further claimed that Roy was not of legal age (he was 20 years old) and that Viola was much older than the telegram stated (Viola was about 19 years old). Viola's brother on the other hand, told reporters that the marriage was no surprise and that in fact the couple had gone to Chicago the previous day to visit Viola's married sister.
Why was Mr. Dale so angry that he was misstating facts that could easily be disproved? The paper states that he was a much admired grocer in Normal. Mr. Riley, Viola's father was a contractor of cellars. Perhaps Mr. Dale felt his family was superior to Viola's.
Nevertheless, in 1920 Roy and Viola were living in Chicago where Roy was a mechanic with the railroad. Another article in the Pantagraph when Roy and Viola visited Normal indicates that he was the foreman of the boiler department of the DeKalb electric light plant. They visited again in 1924 for a family reunion of the Riley family.
Happily, the young lovers were not torn asunder and we hope they had a long and happy married life.