McClain - Feild
Family
Wedding of Miss Mary McClain & William
John Mathis
Contributed by :
Pat Lawrence
The Denison
Gazetteer
Sunday, December 25, 1898
pg. 4
SOCIETY
Wednesday
noon at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Miss
Mary McClain, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Julian C. Feild, was united in
marriage to Mr. Will J. Mathis.
Rev. John Benners Gibble officiating.
The spacious building was
filled to overflowing with the relatives and
friends of the contracting
parties and the ceremony, while entirely
free from every form
or symbol of pomp and ostentation, was
an ideal personification of
the mystical union between Christ, the
groom, and his church, the
bride, as proclaimed by the Christian
Episcopacy. The windows,
lintels, doorways, etc. to the building were
heavily curtained and the
light of a thousand candles mellowed every
angle, softened every line
and gave a charm, a fascination to the scene
that was truly sublime.
A wealth of geraniums, palms, orchids,
and other foliage and
exotic plants festooned and graced the nave
as well as the altar and
the throne, shedding their fragrance from
apis to vestibule. Just
before the arrival of the bridal party, a
choir of five voices composed
of Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Elkin, Misses Lillie
Brutsche and Ethel Mills
and Mr. R.W. Lewin, came from the vestry
singing a matrimonial hymn,
and passing between the chancel and the
altar, faced the throne and
proceeded to position to bishop's right.
"All For You" was
rendered by Mrs. Elkin and at its conclusion
the doors at the vestibule
were opened, Miss Marshall at the organ
touched the chords of
Lohengrin's wedding march and the vast
assemblage, as by a single
impulse, arose to its feet and the wedding
company advanced in the
following order:
Ushers
- J.C. Feild, Jr. and J.T. Munson, R.S.
Wootan and J.A. Cummins;
groomsmen and bridesmaids - H.H. Cummins and
Miss Willie Feild of Fort
Worth; J.M. Semple, of Sherman, and Miss
Linley Munson; maid of honor,
Miss Jennie Hanna; flowergirl, little Miss
Clara Blackford; the bride
leaning upon the arm of her father. As
the bride proceeded down
the aisle, her pathway was strewn with
flowers; at the altar she met
the groom, who, with his attendant, Mr. F.C.
Jones, of Houston, were
waiting at the chancel. The attendants
stood to the right and to
the left, the bride and groom faced the
minister, the music ceased,
and, in accordance with the Episcopal ritual
Rev. Mr. Gibble recited
the words that publicly seal Hymen and
Cupid's sacred pledge.
After the Lord's prayer the preacher
delivered a beautifully
worded invocation, when Mr. and Mrs. Mathis,
followed by the flower
girl still strewing the pathway with
flowers, and then the attendants,
all in step and in harmony with Mendelsohn's
wedding march the glad
anthems of which were verbirating and
reverberating throughout every
nook and corner of the building, passed down
the aisle, through the
vestibule and to the carriage in waiting,
and thus ended a wedding that
will long be remembered in the local social
circles.
The
bridal party repaired to the residence of
the bride's parents on West
Bond street where an informal reception was
held. At 2:30 o'clock
Mr. and Mrs. Mathis left over the Missouri,
Kansas and Texas for St.
Louis; from there they expect to go to
Washington and be present at the
adjournment of Congress for the Christmas
holidays. Before
returning they expect to visit New York and
Niagara.
The
toilets worn by the bride and bridesmaids
were strikingly handsome and
beautiful. The wedding dress was of
rich white brocaded satin in
full train with duchess lace and pearl
passamenterie trimmings, the
bridal veil was caught up with orange
blossoms. Her ornaments
were pearls and diamonds and she carried a
beautiful bouquet of white
carnations. Miss Jennie Hanna wore an
elegant white organdie silk
over taffeta with ribbon and lace trimmings.
Little Miss Clara
Blackford with her accordion plaited blue
taffeta toilet was indeed the
fairy queen she so fittingly represented.
Miss Willie Feild's
gown was of blue organza over taffeta with
bows of blue ribbon for
trimming. Miss Linley Munson's toilet
was also of blue organza
over blue taffeta and each of the bride's
attendants carried elegant
bouquets of white chrysanthemums. The
groom and his attendants
were in full evening dress.
The
bride is the only daughter of Dr. and Mrs.
Julian C. Feild; she was
born and raised in Denison and is a lady of
true refinement in every
sense of the word. Mr. Mathis has
resided in Denison for fourteen
or fifteen years and enjoys and excellent
standing in his profession,
that of the law. The Gazetteer joins the
host of friends in wishing them the
fullest measure of happiness in their new
relation in life.
William
John Mathis was born 9 February 1870 in
Americus, Georgia, the son of Lewis
& Susan Mathis. After
studying
at the University of North Carolina, he
came to Texas and
attended the University of Texas, graduating
with a degree in law in
1885. He moved to Denison to
practice law.
He married Mary McClain
Feild, daughter of Dr. J.C. Feild &
Susan E. McClain, 21 December
1898. Mathis
was the father of Elizabth Mathis, who
married Dr. Paul Gunby, June 30, 1923,
in Sherman.
Biography Index
Susan Hawkins
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