The Political Wedding of the Season
A look back at the high-society union of a Tacoma banker and the daughter of a Chief Justice, which captivated 1891 Seattle.
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.
Washington City, Jan 2. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer tonight has an extensive account of the arrangements for the wedding of Miss Fuller to Mr. Hugh Wallace, of Tacoma, which will take place next Monday night. It will be a brilliant event. The high official position of the bride’s father, the esteem in which they are held, and the affection with which the bride is regarded by a large circle of friends, are all the reasons why it will be so. The bridesmaids—Miss Eva Flannagan and Miss Fisken of New York, Miss Moore of Orange, N. J., Miss Woodruff of Auburn, N. Y., Miss Ellen Weber of Brooklyn, and Miss Swinburn of Tarrytown, N. Y.—were all friends of the bride at Wells College. The best man will be the groom’s brother, Thomas B. Wallace, a banker of Tacoma. The ushers will be Senator Dubois, of Idaho; Governor West, of Utah; Mr. J. G. Zachry, Mr. C. Lewis, Mr. John H. Mitchell, Jr., of Oregon, and Mr. Archibald Brown, of Chicago. Mr. Mitchell is a son of Senator Mitchell, and is an attorney in the employ of the Northern Pacific, making his home in Tacoma, where Mr. Wallace takes his bride. The clergyman who is to perform the marriage rite is Mr. Daniel Weston, of New York, an uncle of the Chief Justice, who about a quarter of a century ago did the same service for himself and the mother of the bride.
“The high official position of the bride’s father, the esteem in which they are held, and the affection with which the bride is regarded by a large circle of friends, are all the reasons why it will be so.”
In 1891, the movement of wealth and political influence between Tacoma and Washington D.C. defined the elite social set. Today, the names of these prominent families still grace our maps and parks, though the 'social columns' of local news have largely moved to digital feeds.
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