Family In The News -- That Crazy Summer of 1921 At The Webers

     I'm glad to say that I have more family news that I've uncovered in newspapers.  But sometimes the stories pop up in a roundabout way. Recently I was wondering about my mother's (Rosemary Weber) experiences playing basketball in high school and thought I'd see if there might possibly be a mention of her in the local newspapers. Not surprisingly, a search of the online newspaper archive where I'm subscribed didn't turn up anything in their sports columns.  But wait....what are these mentions?  Well, here she was at five years old as flower girl in two aunts' weddings within sixty days. What I did find on this search were two news items vividly painting scenes of the weddings of Ida Weber in July and May Weber in September of 1921.
      Before coming across these details the events were just black and white dates. Now there's some color to them. We can picture the preparations and the family festivities.  There are even comments as to the couples' wedding trips and where they will live.
      First, the news immediately below from the Indianapolis Star on Sunday, July 3, 1921, announces the marriage of Ida Weber and Frank Shelton Cordell.  The wedding took place on June 27 at St. Mary's Church and was followed by "a wedding breakfast at the home of the bride, the table decorations carrying out a color scheme of pink and white, with wedding bells, summer flowers and bows of tulle."  Notice also that the attendants included "little Rosemary Weber, niece of the bride, who wore a frock of white net trimmed with pink rosebuds and carried a basket of wild roses and daises."  Descriptions of the bride's dress, names of the wedding party and information about the couple's home give life to the event.
   Approximately sixty days after Ida's marriage, her sister May Stella Weber married John Lieland.  The second clipping below from the September 7, 1921, Indianapolis Star describes their marriage at St. Mary's Church on September 6.  "The bride wore a gown of white satin with Duchess lace over drapery.  Her veil fell from a bandeau of pearls and orange blossoms."  In May's wedding there were two flower girls: "Little Rosemary Weber and Fern Grace Leiland, in dainty frocks of white net, carrying baskets of roses in pastel shades."



     It's interesting to compare these two sisters' weddings within the short time frame. Think about the situation for the whole Weber family!  Each bride chose one of their sisters as bridesmaid and also two different Weber brothers as best man. Maybe they decided that Rosemary could wear the same flower girl dress in July and in September.  One of their cousins, Leonard Paetz, served as usher in both weddings. Was he a favorite?  I know that May and Ida lived with their parents and worked for the Big Four Railroad at this time.  Marriage records indicate that the men they married worked for the railroad also.  Was there marriage in the air at the railroad office that summer?
     Just imagine the dinner conversations in the household as the plans were going forward.  There were ten of the children of Harry and Mary Weber living at their home until these two ladies married.  Definitely the Weber home on South Alabama Street in Indianapolis was a crazy place in the summer of 1921.

Here are other posts with more about this family:
Weber & Zimmer Dry Goods Store
Mary Anna Keen Weber

Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties,
Nancy

Copyright (c) Nancy Niehaus Hurley