William McClure and Maggie Larimer, Married OTD 150 Years Ago

On October 19, 1876, wedding bells rang in Wabash county, Indiana, for William Madison McClure (1849-1887) and his bride, Margaret Jane Larimer (1859-1913). They were my husband's great-grandparents. Redoing my newspaper research, I found that the weekday wedding was reported in the Goshen Times (Indiana) newspaper with this short item:

Mr. Wm M. McClure, late of Wabash, Ind., and Miss Maggie [Margaret] Larimer, of Millersburg, this county [Elkhart], were married at the latter place on Thursday last, Rev. W. H. Ziegler, of this city, officiating.

William was 26 years old, and Margaret was 17 (married with a parent's consent) when they were wed, as I could see from the official county documentation of this marriage.

The couple had four children from 1877-1882. Sadly, the youngest child was only 5 when William died of typhoid fever at age 37. He was buried barely a week before what would have been his 11th wedding anniversary. Fortunately, he had $3,000 of life insurance to help his family cope with this loss. 

Margaret worked as a dress maker to supplement the family's income as her children grew older. She lived to see all 4 of her children married and established in life. Margaret died at age 54, due to diabetes and "la grippe." She and William are buried in historic Falls Cemetery, Wabash, Indiana, where hubby and I paid our respects when we visited a few years ago. 

Happy Birthday to the 19th Century McClure Twins

 
On this day in 1875, fraternal twins Jesse and Bessie McClure were born. They were the youngest children of Train Caldwell McClure and Gulia Swain McClure. Jesse and Bessie were my husband's first cousins, twice removed.

The McClure line has few multiple births, so Jesse and Bessie stand out. Unfortunately, no birth records exist to indicate which twin was born first. 

Jesse McClure worked in the paper and printing industry all his life. At the age of 25, he married dressmaker Elnora "Eleanor" Ross, in 1900. Ten years later, they moved to Everett, Washington for his work. Elnora died of a stroke in 1944; Jesse died in 1952. 

Bessie McClure married Judson Deveny, a tailor, in 1897. They had a daughter, Ruth, before divorcing. Bessie married real estate agent Guy Cockley in 1903, and he helped raise Ruth. Guy died of heart disease in 1934; Bessie died from pneumonia 25 years later, in 1959. Both Bessie and Guy are buried in Falls Cemetery, Wabash, Indiana, where her headstone reads "Mother" and his reads "Dad."

Thinking of the McClure twins on the 151st anniversary of their birth.