I am puzzled by the choice that some couples made with regard to weddings venues one hundred years ago. One popular choice was the home of one family. Another choice was the home of the minister. Getting married inside the church just was not a very popular choice. But why did so many couples go to a distant city to tie the knot? Stories abound of couples taking the train to Joliet, Peoria or driving to Champaign or Lincoln to get married by a minister without any fmily members in attendance. Were these rush jobs because of a ill-timed pregnancy? Were the families opposing the marriage?
On December 29, 1915 five McLean County couples were noted to have married.
Edna Hensley and Henry Lindenbaum married in Lexington in the home of Edna's parents. Henry was a farmer and they lived their lives in Colfax, where Henry came from. Edna lived to be 90 years old and died in 1984. They had 3 children, none of whom were born within a year of their wedding.
Alta Hoit and Vinton H Smith, both from Leroy, were married in Urbana by a minister in his parsonage. They had no attendants or observers at their wedding. Vinton was a railroad fireman and served in the Navy during WWI. He died in 1922 of an unspecified disease at their home on Graham Street in Bloomington. They had two children (neither born within a year of their wedding). Alta remarried in 1926 in Maryland to Robert E Parker and had one more child. She died in 1937 at the age of 49, leaving a child under ten.
Veda Lyons and John N Myers were from Colfax and Anchor and married in Bloomington without announcing their plans to friends and family. John was a farm laborer. This marriage lasted only 22 years, because Veda died at the age of 40 in 1937. They had 5 children. None of their children were born within a year of their wedding.
Alma Sutter and Luke Stoops of Cooksville were married at the home of Samuel Sutter, Alma's father. They had 4 children, at least two of whom received college educations. These were the only children of these marriages who received schooling beyond high school. Alma and her husband had only 8th grade educations, but owned their own farm near Cooksville. Alma died at the age of 87 in 1977.
Esther Olsen and William Edwards of Bloomington were married in Joliet nearly a week before they announced their marriage to friends. They were both the children of immigrants, Esther's parents were from Sweden and Luke's were from Wales. They had two sons together, neither of which was born within a year of the wedding. Esther died in 1947 at the age of 55. Luke was a railroad worker and they lived on Elm Street in Bloomington.
Apparently none of these weddings were "shotgun" weddings. Was marrying in secret a romantic flight of fancy or a mania for privacy? Both of the women who married at home lived much longer than the others, but they were also better established financially. None of the women were excessively young when they married. Veda Lyons was the youngest at 18 years of age, and Alta Hoit the oldest at 27 years of age when she married. For me this remains a mystery, but perhaps the answer could be in popular fiction of the day. I will have to do more research.