Local History
Agnes Harralson Describes Wedding Held in Muhlenberg 100 Years Ago
Written at the top of the page of an old business ledger, the following letter tells the story of a pretty June wedding which took place in Muhlenberg County a hundred years ago. The writer, who described her own wedding, could not have done a better job of reporting the interesting facts if she had been the social editor of a modern newspaper.
It was many years after the event, that Sarah Elizabeth (Hancock) Evans complied with the request of her children and wrote the little story of events that took place the day she became the bride of William Henry Evans:
“By request I will write a little history of our wedding, which took place on the 29th day of April, 1861, at my grandfather Craig's house (Garland D. Craig). He lived in Muhlenberg County on Bat East Creek. The ceremony was performed by H.B. Waggin, a Baptist minister of Rochester. There were a few relatives and friends present - among them Mr. Alex Todd, brother-in-law of Presidenct Lincoln.
“The hour was set for three o'clock in the afternoon, but owing to a cyclone passing through that part of the county, Mr. Evans, the groom and company with him could not get there in their carriages. Mr. Evans dispatched Dick Simmons, one of his friends who was on horseback, to let us know the cause of the delay.
“You also wanted to know how we were dressed. Mr. Evans wore a black cloth suit, except vest which was white moreen antique silk, low quartered shoes with white socks and gloves and a necktie of white silk with pink stripes.
“My dress was white swiss, made with a full skirt, low neck, angel sleeves and a white sash. I had white kid slippers and gloves and a white veil held with a wreath of rosebuds.
“While we were waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom and company, I was in the upper room when Ann, a negro girl came through the door to see how I as dressed. She went on into the attic, and while in there stepped on a loose plank in the ceiling of the dining room where the wedding table was set. Lo and behold! dust and dirt fell through on the snow-white table. It had to be reset, so the delay of the groom was best for those who were managing that part of the wedding affairs. That one was my Stepmother, Mrs. Sallie O. Hancock, and such a good mother, I can not refrain from speaking of her.”
The names Sarah Elizabeth mentions in her little story are names familiar in the early history of Muhlenberg County. Dick Simmons, who was “dispatched” to tell the bride why the groom would be late for his wedding, owned and operated the Mud river ferry at one time. His first wife was Nancy Lucy whose father William Luce owned all the land of Skilesville in 1800. It was Dick Simmons who gave land for Simmons Chapel and graveyard. He died in 1866.
Her grandfather Garland D. Craig, at whose home she was married, may not have been a Craig at all. Ed M. Manley, Muhlenberg historian, of Los Angeles, Calif., writing in the Messenger - Times-Argus in 1953 said:
“James Craig, soldier of the Revolution, left a will recorded in Muhlenberg County in 1811. He had evidently married a second wife, a widow named Sally Dickerson.
“In this will the widow, Sally, is mentioned and his children and heirs, namely William E., Thomas E., Robert, John, Andrew, Henry, Mary, Elizabeth and Sally Craig. Then he mentioned his stepson Garland Dickerson. The stepson was left a horse and saddle and 100 acres of Military Grant land on Bat East Creek.” Mr. manley says, “The stepson could have taken the name of Craig, and then became known as Garland D. Craig. No other Garland belonging to any pioneer Craig family has been found. This Garland D. Craig married Leticia Rice in 1816 and was one of the best loved members of the Hazel Creek Church.”
Somewhere in the area between what is now Browder and Belton there was a tract of land owned by D.C. Humphries of Woodford County, Kentucky. Shortly after the Civil War started, Mr. Humphries sent his nephew, Alex Todd to Muhlenberg County to look after his interests. Alex's father Robert S. Todd was married twice and had two families. He had six children by his first wife, among whom was Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln. After the death of his first wife, he married Elizabeth Humphries, who was a sister of the man who owned the tract of land mentioned. He and his second wife had seven children, two of whom were Alex Todd and Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm.
This story has been told before, how Alex had a special invitation from Mr. Lincoln to attend the inauguraton on March 4th, 1861. He accepted the invitation, going from Muhlenberg to Washington. It was the next month he was among the guests at the wedding of his friends on Bat East Creek. A few weeks later he joined, not Abe Lincoln's Union Army but the Southern Army, where he was made aide-de-camp on staff of his brother-in-law, Gen. Ben Harding Helm. His friends in Muhlenberg County were sad when they heard that he was killed Aug. 5, 1862 in the Battle of Baton Rouge.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans made their home in Rochester where he was in business for many years. Their daughter Esther grew up and married Dr. Billy Hunt, beloved physician of Butler and Muhlenberg Counties for many years. Mrs. Esther Evans Hunt is now in her 95th year and lives at Browder. She is a most remarkable person, managing her household with a sprightly step and a sense of humor that belies her years. She is the mother of Mrs. Ben Topmiller, Sr., Mrs. Eldon Gardner, Mrs. L.T. Dixon, Alex and Slaughter Hunt, Miss Elizabeth Hunt and Evans Hunt who so recently died were also her children.
After almost a hundred years the stroke of Sarah Elizabeth's pen is still giving pleasure to her descendants, and their friends.
Source: Harralson, Agnes G. “Agnes Harralson describes wedding held in Muhlenberg 100 years ago.” Unidentified Muhlenberg County newspaper.
Updated July 14, 2022