Wednesday, October 30, 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the wedding of Alfred Thomas Mannon and Marion Rosalind Hickson. In one hundred years, this union resulted in four generations of descendents — 3 sons — 13 grandchildren — 22 great-grandchildren — 7 great-great grandchildren.
We don’t know a whole lot about Grandad and Nana’s courtship and wedding. What we do know came from mini-Reunion in Shell Beach, CA in June, 1994. This weekend was attended by all three brothers and a few of us cousins. There was quite a bit of memorabilia and photographs shared those days. Unfortunately, 1994 was a little before the “Scanner Era” and definitely before the Cell Phone Camera Era. So today – 25 years later – we are trying to remember where we put some of the documents — like the wedding guest book and gift list! We know it exists because some of us remember seeing it………..
Anyway…… from the summary of the 1994 reunion, we know that Marion & Alfred were engaged on December 12, 1917. Alfred joined the Army the next month on January 23, 1918. He was initially stationed in New York. In June of 1918, Alfred and Marion visited Rev. George W. Grinton in Middletown, New York.
From this, we can possibly deduce that Marion and Alfred were informing the former paster of their engagement and possibly asking him to officiate at their nuptials. In July 1918, Alfred goes to Texas and Arkansas for his military service and he is discharged in November, 1918. Of course we have the letters Alfred wrote to Hamilton and in those, he asked his brother to look after Marion. Apparently, we also have a couple of telegrams from Alfred to Marion telling her when he would be on leave and coming back to New York.
The next 11 months of their engagement is a bit of a mystery. In a short newspaper blurb in the Greenfield, Massachusetts Gazette and Courier on October 18, 1919, it was stated that Marion Hickson from New York had sent out her invitations and was remembered fondly for the summers she spent at the Wayfield Inn (in Buckland, northern Massachusetts).
The Chelsea Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church, where the wedding took place has a long and storied past. In 1919, the church was occupying a one story building at the southwest corner of 179th Street and Ft. Washington Avenue. In 1908, it had relocated from a midtown location heavily congested by the newly-built Penn Station. A large church building was planned for the new location, but it never was built beyond the foundation and first floor. Rev. George Grinton had been the pastor at Chelsea M.E. Church during 1910 and must have met the Hickson family then. So it is natural to surmise that Rev. Grinton officiated at the Mannon-Hickson ceremony — although we won’t know for certain until we find the Wedding Book. Otherwise, we really have nothing more in hand except a couple of photos, showing it was indeed a formal affair. I’ve poured through daily New York newspapers from October 31 through November 1919 hoping to find even a small writeup of the wedding, but to no avail. From the photos, we know that Hamilton stood up as best man for his older brother and Marion’s cousin Rosalind Ware (Ella Hamilton Ware’s daughter) was maid of honor.
October 30, 1919
One humorous footnote: Uncle Bob vividly remembers a story passed down where a man named Dick Ball hid in the back seat of the car taking the newlyweds, Alfred and Marion, away. The stowaway was soon discovered and didn’t make it to the honeymoon! Bob remembers Dick Ball visiting California once when he was home alone and having to leave before his parents came home. They were very disappointed to have missed him. The records show a Richard Ball growing up the Bronx and being the same age as Grandad. We’ll probably never know their connection…………..
There are several more stories out there regarding this era in Marion and Alfred’s life, just waiting for a post to bring them to life. Stay tuned……..