The Coal Miners’ Masquerade Wedding
A wedding in the company town of Black Diamond turns into a spectacle when local miners gatecrash the festivities in full gear.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mr. Alexander G. Hanson and Miss Jennie J. Turnbull were married in the Masonic hall at Black Diamond on Tuesday evening. The hall was beautifully decorated with an arch of evergreen and white roses. During the supper, a sensation was produced by the appearance of Superintendent Morgans, who led a dozen coal-blackened miners in full mining suits, caps, and lighted pit lamps, with drum, fife, and triangles, into the hall. The group hied in and out, disappearing as mysteriously as they came. Mr. A. G. Hanson is an agent for the Oregon Improvement Company and a partner in the Summit Lumber Company; the bride is the daughter of the chief mechanic of the Black Diamond Coal Company.
“A sensation was produced in the middle of the evening by the noise of tramping feet and the appearance of Superintendent Morgans at the door leading in a dozen coal blackened miners in full mining suits, caps and lighted pit lamps.”
This account captures the mid-winter life of a company town, where social life revolved entirely around the mining infrastructure. Black Diamond today is a residential community, but in 1893, the 'company' was the literal center of gravity for both marriage and social entertainment.
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