Letters - I had a plain white India Linen dress, Mrs. L.A. Gould

                                                                                                            Lamoni, Iowa,
                                                                                                             Aug. 5, 1900
Dear Cousin Myrtle;-
Have you made up your mind that getting married has made me forget everybody else in the world? Well I have not forgotten you if I didn’t write. I got your letter while at Battle Lake. Ma had it sent to me there.

     You do not know anything about my wedding do you? So I guess I have better start way back there. The tenth of June 1900 was a very pleasant day. A few fleecy clouds were floating in the sky and it was quite cool. The ceremony took place at 10 A.M. Bro. Robert’s officiating. Two couples were married you know. Ern and Lilly and Leon and Alice. Winnie and Bertha Hunter stood up with us. Ern was married first and this is the position we were in
Ern/ \Lilly
Leon/ \Alice
Winnie/ \Bertha
Bro. Roberts
then Ern and Leon and Lilly and I changed places and we were married I have a plain band, oval ring as a wedding ring. It has not been off from my finger yet. I had a plain white India Linen dress, trimmed with lace in neck and sleeves and a white wattered silk ribbon.
I had a ribbon sash tied on the left side. You can see in the picture about how it was made. The picture is very good one of us.

     We girls had flowers, pink and white in our hair and the boys a bouquet on their coats. Lilly’s dress was cream colored cashmere trimmed with satin ribbon, silk lace and braid. It was very pretty. Our folks think Lilly is as nice as nice can be. Leon and I got a quilt, 3 sheets, 2 pr. pillow cases, a pr. pillows, a comfort, and strawtick from pa and ma, a white table cloth from Byron, a pr. of very pretty towels from Bertha Anderson, and a pr. from Bertha Hunter, a pr. from Aunt May and one towel from Daisy Lyon, Vick’s girl.
Ross gave us a lamp. Ern a little brown tea-pot. Lilly a very pretty cake plate, Maude Sherman gave us a quilt and Aunt (Lios?) gave us a quilt. That is all I think of now except Lute, Grandma & Grandpa, Corda and Orisen and Lu and Leon’s parents all gave us some money in stead of buying us anything to bring down here with us.

     Ern and Lilly got something the same only more dishes and not so much bedding. We had dinner right away after the wedding.
Ern. Lilly, Leon, myself, Bertha Hunter, Winnie and Pa and Ma sat at one table and some more people at the other table and some had to wait. We had bread, butter, pickles, potatoes-mashed, dressed chicken, chocolate cake and cocoanut cake was brides cake, strawberries, oranges, bananas, lemon ade, raspberry pie, I should say. I believe that was all.

     All of our family, all of Freem’s and Myron’s families Rich and Ross, Oron B., Leon and Winnie, Bertha Hunter, Daisy Lion, Lilly Hand and Bro. Roberts were there. After dinner we went to Sunday School. Then we came home, had supper did the dishes and afterwhile my husband and I went for a walk as had been the custom before we were married and when we got back lo and behold everybody was getting ready for bed so there was nothing for us to do but go and do like wise. Yes Sir, whether you believe it or not I slept with a man that night. We found just as we were getting into bed some kind of an object down the middle of the bed that felt very much like a cat.

    On examination next morning we found it was a pussy hood ma de into the form of a cat. Leon took it down stairs the next morning to show what we had found.
We found out it was some of Aunt May and her girls work. That was the only trick that was played on us. 

     I taught school a week after we were married then on Saterday got ready to leave home for good. Sunday we went to S.S, and Freem’s girls, Abbie and Nett came down.
Early Monday morning those two girls, Bertha, Vick, Lute, Winnie, Leon and I bundled our things into two covered wagons and start for the reunion at Perham. We had a very pleasant trip. Got there Wednesday afternoon and I got to see my new Pa and Ma and my youngest sister. We stayed there until the next Monday then went down to Silver Lake. We visited there and at Clitherall hardly a week and Sunday evening July 1 we started for Lamoni.
We had to lay over a day at Minneapolis. When we got here at Uncle Alex we were tired and dirty and sleepy you may bet. We stayed at Uncle Alex.’s two weeks then went to house keeping with an old lady in the prettiest part of town that I have seen yet. Lamoni is a very nice place and I would enjoy living here very much if Leon could be at home. We had kept house just one day over two weeks and had hardly been married two months when Leon had to go with Uncle Alex to California.

    They started last Wednesday morning. You do not know how hard it is and you never will know until John goes off to be gone 3 or 4 months.

    I do not look for them back much before Xmas but then they may come sooner, I hope so. I have been to S.S., preaching meeting and prayer meeting today. We have very good meetings and so many attend that it seems almost like a reunion.

    How is that dear little girl? Is she well? And Orral too? What have you named her; I have been so busy and changing around so much that I haven’t thought of a name yet but probably you have named her already.

Doris is quite a pretty name. I do not remember the other name you spoke of. One of Audentia Anderson’s little girls is named Doris.

    Well it is getting about church time again so I guess I had better quit for this time. Write as soon as you can and tell all about everything. What a big time you had the 20th. etc.

P.S. So Minnie Swenson is married too, is she, and just four days after we were too? Well, as Lute says, so goes the world.

Leon has an accordion and I amuse myself quite frequently since he left by playing( or trying to play, I should say) on it.

I haven’t forgotten that I promised to send Ida and Iva another picture but we had only a few of these and I couldn’t possibly get around among the relatives.
I am going to send a two cent stamp along with this letter and ask you to send this letter back to me after you have read and dijested it. You may write as much as you wish and send along with it.
I suppose you think I have a queer notion in my head and I’ll admit I have but I want the letter just the same.
I am ashamed of this poor writing but the fault is in the pen partially. I am in hopes that sometimes The Patriarch, his stenographer and wife too, can go down there to a reunion. Wouldn’t I be glad if we could get to see you all. I couldn’t possibly have gone this time if they had have gone. Well, I must stop.

                                                                          Good by. Love to all.
                                                                    address Alice E. Gould or Mrs. L. A. Gould
                                                                           Box 203, Lamoni, Iowa