Celebrating the Marriage of Sarah Rowan and George Washington King

My paternal Great-Grandparents were married on this date 121 years ago in 1897.  While not a wedding photo, this is the earliest photo I was able to find:

Certificate of Marriage, Brooklyn,

I hereby Certify, that George Washington King and Sarah A. Rowan were joined in Marriage by me, in accordance with the Laws of the State of New York, in the City of Brooklyn, this twenty eighth day of November 1897.

                                                                                             Attest- W. N. Ackley, Rector, St. Andrew’s P. E. Church
                                                                                           Residence- 291-47th St

Witnesses: George Macbeth and Lillie Sullivan

                               Of the Groom:                                                  Of the Bride:                   
                              George Washington King                                  Sarah A. Rowan
Residence:            32-1st Ave., Brooklyn                                        61-57th St.
Age-                      19                                                                      18    
Color-                    White                                                                 White
No. of Marriage-    first                                                                    first
Occupation-          Machinist
Place of birth-       Brooklyn, New York                                          New York City
Father’s Name-     Louis A. King                                                    John W. Rowan
Mother’s Maiden-   Sarah Barry                                                     Sarah A. Hughes
    name
We, the Groom and Bride named in the above certificate, hereby certify that the information given is correct to the best of our knowledge and belief.

At the time of their marriage, George’s father and both of Sarah’s parents were no longer alive.  Sarah’s father had died just 9 months earlier.  George’s mother, Sarah Barry King, was the only parent alive.  Was she at the wedding of George and Sarah?  I looked at the names of the witnesses and don’t recognize the names as family members. I wonder if they were friends of the bride and groom or distant family members? 

When I reviewed the blog post What can you find in Grandma’s Scrapbook? about George & Sarah’s 50th wedding anniversary, I do see in one of the newspaper accounts, the name Mrs. Mamie MacBeth.  Is this the wife of witness George MacBeth? 

Searching and searching for information on St. Andrew’s yielded no results. I was only able to find several references to the Rector listed on the marriage license, in The Churchman, a Weekly News-Magazine in 1897:

In the article about George and Sarah’s 50th anniversary I can see that they were remarried by Rev. Robert B. Hall of St. Andrew’s Church. So, I know that the church was still around in 1947 when they celebrated their anniversary.  I decided to go to Google Maps to see if the church is currently there and found:

I wonder if the church was torn down to make way for Interstate 278- the Gowanus Expressway? The Gowanus was originally started in 1939 and widened from 4 to 6 lanes between 1958 and 1964. Unfortunately, there is no church for me to visit.  I wonder if I will one day be able to find a photo of the church?

If you have any corrections, additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby