Question: This photo was taken in Baldwinsville in 1914. The two smiling ladies holding the placard were prominent members of the village’s “younger set.” Do you recognize either one of them or their location? Do you know why they are brandishing the sign?
Last week’s answer: Crepe paper streamers and artificial flowers festooned the bower set up in the sanctuary of Baldwinsville’s United Methodist Church for this June 1915 re-enactment of a wedding that had taken place in New York City 52 years earlier.
Showman extraordinaire P.T. Barnum had discovered 5-year-old Charles Sherwood Stratton in 1843. At age 5, Stratton was only 25 inches tall. Barnum renamed him General Tom Thumb, taught him to sing, dance and tell jokes and featured him in Barnum’s grand tours both in the United States and Europe. A talented performer, Tom’s celebrity status surpassed that of any other actor of his time.
At the age of 25, Tom married fellow performer Lavinia Warren. The Feb. 10, 1863, ceremony uniting this world famous little person, General Tom Thumb, and his diminutive bride Lavinia took the country by storm.
Described as “The Greatest Little Wedding,” vows were exchanged in New York City’s Grace Episcopal Church. Ten thousand guests attended the reception held at the Metropolitan Hotel. Studio portraits of the wedding party were taken by Matthew Brady. The newlyweds were received by President Lincoln.
They continued to perform as both their fame and fortune grew. Twenty years later Tom suffered a sudden stroke and died. During the next 36 years Lavinia remarried and continued her theater career. She passed away in 1919 at the age of 77.
The couple had toured extensively and had appeared before thousands of people. They came to Syracuse several times and traveled to Baldwinsville in 1878. The country’s fascination with this famous duo and their spectacular wedding did not diminish. General Tom Thumb’s love for the beautiful Lavinia had captured the hearts of people around the globe.
Their fairy tale wedding would be memorialized for more than 150 years by pageants with children playing the roles of the little people and all of those present. Casting was not a problem. Actual cast requirements were small but there was always room for more flower girls, bridesmaids, ushers and guests. It was truly a one-size-fits-all production.
A popular entertainment, it was often used as a fundraiser. Several facilitators even traveled around the country to assist with local productions. They would arrive complete with scripts as well as costumes for the key players.
A review of newspaper archives reveals that dozens of these performances have been presented in Baldwinsville and the surrounding area. The earliest noted was a school program held at the Howard Opera House in 1883. The most recent was a 1957 production in Little Utica.
More than 40 youngsters had parts in the 1915 performance seen in this photo. The Gazette and Farmers Journal listed the following roles and their actors: Bride (“Jennie June”): Olive Brown; Bridegroom (“Tom Thumb”): Donald Van Wie; Maid of Honor: Lucile Boyd; Best Man: Edgar Boyd; Clergyman: Barton Meays; Ring Bearer: Hester Larkin; Flower Girls: Gertrude Gristwood, Ethel Hosmer, Marian Kratzer and Marian Kittell; Bridesmaids: Helen Brown, Katherine Coe, Olive Garrett, and Marjorie Van Wie; Ushers: William Lewis Clark, Corydon Chapman, Earl Porter and Howard Eggleston; Father and Mother of the Bride: Howard Tooley and Mildred Garrett; Father and Mother of Bridegroom: Allan Porter and Mabel Patchett; Ex-President and Mrs. Taft: Merle Loveless and Edith Johnson; Col. and Mrs. Roosevelt: Ralph Carrington and Gladys Quereau; President Wilson: Alfred Johnson; Chancellor and Mrs. Day: Wesley Frawley and Flossie Freer; Superintendent and Mrs. Reigel: Arthur Eldridge and Gertrude Garrett; Village President Arthur Tappan and Wife: Clifford Tappan and Virginia Oppleton; Rev. and Mrs. Frank Boyd: Donald Porter and Christine Garrett; Rev. and Mrs. Billy Sunday: Paul Virginia and Blanche Patchett; Miss Harriet May Mills: Doris Socia; Mrs. Emily Parkhurst: Marian Frawley; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Thumb: Earl Green and Fern DeGroff; Deaconess Sturgis: Ruth Ward; Deaconess Converse: Marian Ward; S.S. Superintendent and Mrs. George Fales and Son: Paul Hatch, Hilda Young and Orris Garrett.
Admission to the local production was fifteen cents.
Betsy Barbour correctly identified the activity in the photo, though she said she was unable to make out the faces in order to identify those pictured.
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo before the deadline, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
