THE WEDDING OF CARRIE MAE SALLEE AND ELZUMER SCOTT, SEPTEMBER 16, 1897

For this post, I have merged two newspaper articles that Mary Whittle Scott hand-copied from a scrapbook kept by Elzumer Scott.  The newspapers [names unknown] report the wedding, on Sept. 16, 1897, of Carrie Mae Sallee and Elzumer Scott, Kenneth's parents.  The account is charming and very descriptive--if only we had photos!

Carrie Mae Sallee and Elzumer Scott

 A Most Pleasant Affair–Unique and Fashionable

The Baptist church was the scene Thursday night of one of the most pleasant and beautiful weddings that has ever been witnessed in Chillicothe (Missouri).  The contracting parties were from among our most highly esteemed citizens, and elaborate preparations were made that the event might be a happy one to the bridal couple as well as to friends and relatives.

The young couple are well known in Chillicothe, the bride being a resident of the city, and a highly accomplished young lady,  Miss Carrie Mae Sallee.  Miss Sallee is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Edward Sallee, and is a lovely young lady. 

Carrie Mae Sallee, 1877-1950

The groom is from Chicago, he being the stenographer of the General Superintendent of the Rock Island railroad, Mr. Elzumer Scott.  He is a graduate of the Chillicothe Normal, and during his three years in school he made scores of friends where delighted to do him honor on his wedding day.

Elzumer Scott, 1874-1961

The church had been decorated for the affair in a decidedly original but appropriate manner.  The rostrum was arranged to represent a rustic scene.  In the background was a cottage, and from the house through the grass ran a path to an old fashioned well–moss covered, and with the regulation old oaken bucket. Surrounding the well and house were arranged large palms and ferns giving the appearance of trees.  Immediately above the altar was a decorated arch hanging out above the couple with a monogram beautifully wrought forming the letter “S”.  Other decorations throughout the church were of evergreens and smilax.

The church was filled with invited guests.  Shortly before 8 o’clock, Mrs. J. M. Dunn sang a beautiful solo in her most happy and entertaining manner, Robyn’s lovely ballad, “You.”  The sentiment of the song accorded well with the occasion, and Mrs. Dunn sang it with surpassing sweetness.  At 8 o’clock, as the tone of the solo died away, the organ began Mendelssohn’s superb wedding march, played by Mrs. Sherman, and the violin by Miss Fannie Tinkham.

The ushers, James England and Wade Wright, led the way up either aisle, followed by the maid of honor, Miss Ethel Sallee, sister of the bride, and the best man Mr. Carl Wolf; the brides maids Miss Effie Hatcher and Miss Louise Pitts, and their attendants, Mr. Arthur Sallee and Mr. Charles Scott, brother of the groom.  Following the bridesmaids came two winsome little flower girls, Rita Dunn and Zelma Davis, like two little fairies in fairy-land, and then came the bride and groom.  At the altar the attendants arranged themselves on either side of the bride and groom and the officiating minister Rev. S. Y. Pitts, while the flower girls stationed themselves by the old well.

As the wedding march was hushed, Rev. Pitts began the ceremony, “You come in the roseate morning of life to where two ways meet, to drink of the empyrean fountain of happiness that has flown in the halcyon days of Eden.”

At this point little Retia Dunn took from the old oaken bucket a glass of water and handed it to the preacher.  He in turn handed it to the bride and groom.  Each drank of the water, and when it was returned to Rev. Pitts, he, holding a glass high above his head, poured part of its contents on the floor, and continued the ceremony with these words:


“For we must needs die and are as water spilt on the ground that cannot be gathered up again; yet doth God devise means that his banished be not expelled from Him.”  This water, emblematic of our dissolution, suggests with the promise, our immortality and God’s supernal blessing.

“Water is a thing of beauty, sustenance and joy, a force in nature most salutatory, an emblem of God’s unfailing grace.  You have seen two crystal drops pending on a vibrating stem, blending into one; the union is dissoluble; so with your radiant, palpitating lives.  This holy union is like that of Christ and His Church, therefore a man shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife.

And now do each of you promise and vow, before God and these witnesses, that you will live together in the holy bonds of matrimony according to God’s ordinance, clinging to each other in the loving, dutiful, faithful relation of husband and wife, as long as you both shall live?  Then in the name of God and by the authority of the state I pronounce you lawfully married.”

To the lovely strains of the recessional the party marched out of the church, but received many congratulations at the door by friends who could not attend the reception The bridal party left the church, and were driven to the bride’s home on Trenton Street, where a reception was held.

Carrie Mae Sallee. This may have been her wedding picture.

Miss Sallee wore a dress of white organdie over blue silk and carried a bouquet of bride roses.
[Organdie is a stiff transparent fabric of cotton or silk.]
Miss Eythel Sallee wore a white organdie over Nile green silk and carried roses.
Miss Effie Holcher’s gown was white organdie over violet silk, and her bouquet was of carnations.
Miss Pitts wore white organdie over pink silk and her bouquet was of carnations.
The flower girls were daintily gowned in white.  They had been trained by Mrs. Fulton.

The bride and groom left Friday for Princeton, where his parents will give a reception.  Soon they will leave for Chicago, where they will make their future.

Elzumer and Carrie Mae Scott