A 1914 Wedding

Among the collection at the Meeker County Museum is this beautiful wedding dress worn by Martha Louise Fullerton when she married Tipton Fetzer McClure.

Martha (Fullerton) McClure's wedding dress on display at the museum.

The wedding was on the evening of Thursday, February 12, 1914. The newspapers described it as a “pretty home wedding” with “quiet simplicity.” To the modern reader, this might conjure up images of simple flower arrangements, a handful of family and friends, and pre-recorded music, but this was certainly the case for the Fullerton-McClure wedding.

First of all, the wedding was at the home of Martha’s aunt and uncle, Otho and Isora Campbell. This is the grand brick home located directly southeast of the museum. Martha spent part of her childhood with the Campbells, her mother having died when she was young.

The wedding ceremony was held in the home’s parlor. Martha walked down the stairs on her uncle’s arm. The traditional wedding march was being played on the piano, and her groom was waiting for her under a canopy of greenery.

Martha’s dress has aged over time, but was once white. The fabric is charmeuse satin and duchess lace with a detailed belt design. She also wore a veil and carried a bouquet of roses and lilies of the valley.

Martha’s bouquet wasn’t the only flowers. The February wedding saw a host of spring flowers including Easter lilies, white tulips, daffodils, and pink carnations. There were also ferns and a profusion of southern smilax, a green, leafy vine. Some of the smilax was used to create a screen to hide the Noreen orchestra which provided music for the evening.

The newspaper reported that only family was in attendance. The Campbells and McClures were prominent members of the community, so perhaps the “family only” invite list was to make sure no one was offended if they weren’t invited. According to the guest book in the museum archives, thirty-four people were in attendance, including several Campbells and most of McClure’s children from his first marriage.  

After the ceremony, refreshments were served with the help of four of Martha’s friends. An iced drink was served out of one of the home’s nooks by a young Campbell cousin.

The day following the wedding, the McClures left for their honeymoon. They went first to Chicago. While there, they would be joined by Otho and Isora Campbell, and together they would continue to St. Louis, New Orleans, Galveston, and eventually California and up the coast before returning home around the first of April.

In the years that followed, T.F. and Martha had one daughter together. T.F. was part of many businesses in and around Litchfield. Earlier in his life, he was the cashier of the newly formed Bank of Litchfield. He would later become its president. He also played a big part in the start of the Litchfield Cooperative Creamery (later Land O’Lakes) and the Litchfield Hospital Association. Martha was also involved in the community, serving on the library board, the Litchfield Alumni Association, and more. T.F. died in 1942 and Martha in 1973.