William and Harriet Smith's 50th Anniversary
From The Somerset Gazette, summer of 1879:
FAMILY REUNION
There was a grand rallying of the children and grandchildren of William
and Harriet Smith on Tuesday July 15 [?] at the "Old Home" at Mt. Horeb,
it being the occasion of their golden wedding.
Rev. C.A. ___burgh was present, and by invitation gave the following brief
outline of their history:
_________ [copy has gaps] inherited his name ________________ distinguished
from the rest of mankind, by the not infrequent cognomen of Smith; in the
course of time, and human events, he became acquainted with Harriet Coddington,
who, from the persuasions and infatuations William had at his command,
consented, on the 15th day of July 1829, not only to leave her father's
house but to exchange her maiden name for that of Smith. And after duplicating
at God's Altar, the solemn "I will," "I will," they commenced the journey
of life hand in hand and heart beating against heart.
Not only were they united in this sacred bond, but from the beginning almost
their wedded life has been consecrated to God, and from the time of its
institution, they have been members and supporters of the Mt. Horeb M.E.
Church. During the fifty years that have passed since their marriage, there
has been a very apparent increase in the number of "Smiths," radiating
from the old homestead center at Mt. Horeb; they have spread out toward
the rising, and toward the setting Sun, so that when the parents speak
of their children and grandchildren, their thoughts have to plume their
pinions for a lengthy flight, not only around rural neighborhoods, and
different cities of dear old "Jersey," but far off to the plains of Kansas,
where the child whose good fortune it was to inherit the full parental
name "William Smith" is fulfilling the law of his being to "increase and
multiply."
We congratulate the wedded pair that for fifty years they have enjoyed
so full a measure of domestic bliss, in each other, and in the children
who have sprung up like olive plants around them, and in the grandchildren,
a later growth, who like shining stones adorn the family "Temple." We congratulate
you aged friends this day, because of the expressions of filial devotion
surrounding you. The "Children" have come home, and they have brought their
children with them; they have come to tell you in different ways that Father
and Mother have a place in the sanctuary of their hearts, that no other
love, has ever, or can ever, usurp. They come with their filial offerings,
and request me as your pastor, to say, that these rich and beautiful presents
are but faint symbols, of a love that is too great to be spoken, and if
the wishes and the prayers of your children may prevail then you will be
blessed indeed.
We have to think of some who have gone to the other world, of some yet
in the flesh, so far away as not to be able to be present here to day;
such is human life; there are vacant chairs in all our homes, and in all
our family gatherings there are some absent ones; but we congratulate you
in the hope you have of ultimate reunion in the "Home of the Soul."
"O how sweet it will be in that beautiful land
To be free from all sorrow and pain,
With songs on your lips and with harps in your hands,
To meet one another again."