40th Anniversary Celebration

My parental grandfather, Olin Warner, Sr. was the 5^th of 6 boys born to Carrie (Terry) and John B. Warner. My grandfather was only five years old when his mother, Carrie (Terry) Warner died suddenly and it was only 10 years later that his father, John B. Warner passed away.  My grandfather at the age of 15 then went to live with his older brother John Wesley and wife Alice (Aldrich) Warner. Olin and Wesley, and later with their wives, continued a close bond.

Alice (Aldrich) and John Wesley Warner

My paternal grandmother, Agnes (King) Warner was known for the lists she kept.  Whether she was getting ready for Christmas or planning a 40^th Anniversary party you can be sure Grandma had a list going.  Several years ago while visiting my cousin Diane in Colorado she shared with me a small green leather notebook of my grandmother’s.  While enjoying my grandmother’s familiar handwriting and looking through the notebook I found a variety of lists, recipes, etc. One of the lists that caught my eye was the following:

click on image to enlarge

How exciting to find this list of information for the 40^th anniversary celebration of Alice and Wesley Warner from 1958!  Alice and Wesley were married on 9 November 1918 and made their home in Riverhead, New York. 

This was a typical list of my grandmother’s.  Grandma was obviously in charge of planning the party and she listed everything out to the smallest detail.  It’s so interesting to see the menu and the cost of the party back in 1958.  McCabes was a stationary store in the town of Riverhead, so, I am guessing that was for purchasing the invitations.  There were also flowers and hmm…prizes. I am guessing that the ‘clock’ was the anniversary gift for the happy couple.

 I do have some questions though:

• what was the ‘Hall’ where the party was held?
• is this a complete list of those who actually attended?
• was the party actually held on the 8^th of November instead of the 9^th, their anniversary?

Thinking about the details of this list got me to wondering, if, like so many other events in my grandparent’s lives, was this recorded in the local newspaper?  Growing up I remember that on Monday mornings the local reporter, Laura Rodgers, for the area where we lived would call my grandmother and ask what the family had done over the last week.  Was there anything to record in the newspaper?  I am so grateful today, as I search for family information to fill in the daily lives of my ancestors, that so much was recorded in the local newspapers.  Was this event recorded there also?  Could the newspaper account answer some of my questions and give me more details of this event?

When searching for old newspapers for Suffolk County, New York my first stop is usually the free online newspapers through New York Historic Newspapers.  The newspapers I was looking for in Suffolk County only go as far as 1940.   So, that didn’t work.  While visiting Riverhead, New York this summer I decided to see what I could find in the local newspapers for 1958.  Surely the local newspaper had copies somewhere?  The current local newspaper, The Riverhead News-Review, directed me to a nearby library (Mattituck-Laurel Library) where I found out they only had a few years and not the one I was looking for.  Disappointing!  A second call to the local newspaper told me they were in the process of digitizing all their editions so they had nothing available at the newspaper office but directed me to the Riverhead Free Library where they should have the microfilms of the years I was looking for.  A trip to the library finally yielded the microfilm for 1958.  Yea, success for step one!  Then I began searching for the newspapers for November and December 1958.  I was sure I would find something under the ‘Riverhead’ news section since my great Uncle and Aunt lived there.  I searched through several weeks and kept thinking Grandma, don’t let me down.  The party HAS to be in the paper.  Finally, I found the article I was searching for as a general article in The News Review, Thursday, November 13, 1958 edition on page 9:

Transcription:

J W Warners Observe 40^th

Mr. and Mrs. J Wesley Warner of Riverhead were pleasantly surprised by their friends, neighbors and relatives on Saturday evening, Nov 8, at the Aquebogue Congregational Church dining room. The occasion was in honor of their 40^th wedding anniversary.

A buffet supper was served climaxed by the “bride and groom” cutting a beautiful wedding cake.

Mr and Mrs Warner were the recipients of numerous lovely and useful gifts.

Present were Rev and Mrs Robert Samuelson, Mr and Mrs Abe Denholz, Mrs Berger, Mr and Mrs Robinson Goodale, Mr and Mrs Robert Dillilngham Sr, Mr and Mrs Lawrence Hulse, Mr and Mrs Roscoe Palmer, Mr and Mrs Halsey Penny, Mr and Mrs Henry Vail, Mr and Mrs William Vail, Mr and Mrs Raymond Young, Mr and Mrs William Young, Mr and Mrs Horace K. Hallock, Mrs Hulda Diamond, Mrs Milie Downs, Mrs Roswell Corwin, Mrs Florrie Mammen, Mrs Ted Breiling, Mrs. Addison Whitman Sr, Mrs Robert Guy Sr, Mrs Iona Wright, Mr and Mrs Milton Warner Sr, Mr and Mrs Hollis Warner, Mr and Mrs Olin Warner Sr, Mr and Mrs Olin Warner Jr and Mr and Mrs Allen Farrell.

We don’t often get to know how our ancestors celebrated this type of occasion or who our ancestors’ friends were or who would have been at a party like this.

What fun to look back in time and see what was done, say for an anniversary party, in 1958.  As for my questions I now know:

• the “Hall” that was rented was at the Aquebogue Congregational Church
• the party was on a Saturday night (8^th) and wasn’t on their actual anniversary on the 9^th.   Renting of a church ‘Hall’ would make sense that the party was on Saturday night instead of Sunday.
• the clock was one of many gifts given

The newspaper article gives a little more information but is very close to the account found in my grandmother’s list.  What fun to add the newspaper article to my grandmother’s list.  This helps the event become alive for me and I feel like an observer of the 40^th anniversary party.

If I had been able to search for this online it would have been difficult to find without just using the word 'Warner' and searching through pages and pages of findings.  I would never have thought to look for ‘J W Warner’.  A good reminder not to limit yourself when searching in online databases.

Was the picture above found amongst my grandparent’s photos a picture of Alice & Wesley from this party?  I have no way of knowing.  It could have been.  What a handsome couple! Alice and Wesley never had any children, so, I am honored to remember them here today. 

Happy Anniversary Alice and Wesley!

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

Enjoy the journey,

Debby