The Maid of Honour, Nine Years Later
Anna Peterson stood at Myron Spath's first wedding. Now she came to Newport to marry the groom herself — and he failed to arrive.
The following is from the Spokane Chronicle of Nov. 22: "Myron Spath, a wealthy rancher and stock raiser of Salkum, Lewis county, has obtained a license to marry Anna Peterson, of Dassell, Minn. Nine years ago the bride on the present occasion was maid of honor at the first marriage of the groom. It was planned to have the marriage here yesterday, but Mr. Spath failed to arrive, and the bride-to-be went to Newport, where she is staying with friends awaiting the arrival of Mr. Spath. The marriage will take place as soon as the latter arrives. The parties have not met since the marriage scene of nearly ten years ago." Mr. and Mrs. Spath were united in marriage by Rev. Morton at the Methodist parsonage last Saturday noon. Mrs. Spath is a sister of Mrs. Carl Brink, and the happy couple are spending their honeymoon with the Brinks in this city. After the ceremony the newly wedded couple and Mr. and Mrs. Brink departed for the Brink ranch down the river for a day's visit. When they had nearly reached their destination they were caught in the heavy storm and thoroughly drenched before they could reach a shelter. Mr. and Mrs. Spath will make their future home in Lewis county.
“The parties have not met since the marriage scene of nearly ten years ago.”
Second marriages and blended families are unremarkable now; what the paper could not resist was that the bride had stood at the groom's first wedding nine years before, and that the reunion began with a missed train. Newport's Methodist parsonage is gone, but the small-town appetite for a love story with a twist has not changed at all.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.