JUNE 5th, 1901 - THE WEDDING ______________________________________________________________________________________

The wedding was held in the parlor of the Haskell house where Ed's mother, Dora B. Greene, was living. Ed and Ruth took an apartment on the second floor where they lived for some years before moving to 41 Gothic Street. (Formerly 19 Gothic Street, the home of Wallace and Sarah (Rideout) Atkins, later inherited by Sarah's sister, Ed's mother, Dora.) The Haskell House parlor is seen below:

Ed and Ruth's wedding was described in the local paper as follows:

A DOUBLE WEDDING

There was a quiet but very pretty double wedding Wednesday afternoon at No. 7 Main Street, South Paris. The contracting parties were Mr. Charles H. Howard and Miss Alice B. Greene, and Mr. Edward L. Greene and Miss Ruth Gertrude Jones. Mr. Greene and Miss Greene are the two children of Mrs. Dora B. Greene. The ceremony took place in the parlors occupied by the Haskell family, in the same house where Mrs. Greene resides.

The rooms were simply but handsomely decorated. The bridal couples stood before a bank of ferns covering the fireplace in front of which was a large bouquet of bridal wreath. Ferns, palms, begonias, and bouquets of white flowers were effectively arranged about the rooms, the only variation from the general color scheme of green and white being a few bunches of pansies.

There were present only relatives of the parties, including Mr. and Mrs. Rideout of New Gloucester and Miss Mary Rideout of Auburn, and three or four particularly intimate friends. The brides were attired in white muslin ("organdie" pencilled in), each carrying a bouquet of white roses and wearing a single white rose in her hair. The opening strains of the wedding march from Lohengrin were played by Mrs. W. W. Walker, as the bridal party approached from the rooms above. The ring service was used, and was impressively rendered by Rev. W. E. Brooks, D.D., pastor of the Congregational Church, of which the four young people are members.

All the parties are well known in South Paris. Mr. Howard is the junior member of the firm of F. A. Shurtleff & Co. Miss Greene was for several years in the dry goods store of C. W. Bowker & Co., remaining there after the store passed into the hands of L. B. Andrews. Mr. Greene is in the paint shop of the Grand Trunk repair works at Gorham, N.H. Miss Jones, who is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Jones, has been a successful school teacher. A large number of handsome presents testified to the esteem of friends. It would be difficult to select four young people who would receive more hearty congratulations, and good wishes from everybody, or who stand higher in the estimation of the community.

The bridal couples left on the afternoon train, amid a shower of at least a double allowance of rice, to spend a few days about Casco Bay. Mr. and Mrs. Greene will make their home with Mr. Greene's mother on Main Street. Mr. and Mrs. Howard will make their home with Mr. Howard's mother on Pleasant Street. They will be at home to their friends after July 1st.

Another paper published this announcement. (Misspellings are in the original.)

SOUTH PARIS, Me., June 6 (Special). -

Wednesday at 1:30 P.M., in South Paris occurred a daintily arranged double home wedding. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Dr. W. E. Brooks, who united, with the ring service, Miss Alice B. Greene and Charles H. Howard, and Miss Ruth Gertrude Jones and Mr. Edward L. Greene.

The brides were gowned in delicate muslin, of similar design, and trimmed with lace ruffles and narrow satin ribons. Two foot ruffles were of the muslin and there was a soft arrangement of chiffon puffings about the bodice. They carried hand bouquets of bride roses.

A wedding march was played by Mrs. W. W. Walker. Miss Margaret Jones officiated as usher for the guests. Among the guests were Miss Mary Rideout of Auburn and Mr. and Mrs. John Rideout of New Gloucester. The house interior was made beautiful with ferns and palms and potted plants. Following the ceremony a wedding luncheon was served and an informal reception was held. There were present at the wedding only relatives of the young people.

Mr. and Mrs. Howard and Mr. and Mrs. Greene left on the afternoon express for the seashore. They will be at home in about a week. Mr. and Mrs. Howard will make their home with Mr. Howard's mother, Mr. and Mrs. Greene with Mrs. Dora B. Greene.

Mrs. Charles Howard is the daughter of Mrs. Dora B. Greene. Mrs. E. L. Greene is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Jones. The young people have spent the greater part of their lives here, where they are very well known. Mr. Howard is a graduate of the Massachusetts school of pharmacy and has been for the past two and ah alf years a partner of the firm of F. A. Shurtleff & Co., phrmacists.

Both bridal couples were beautifully remembered with gifts from a large circle of friends. Among the gifts to Mr. and Mrs. Greene was the entire silver service which was owned by his grandmother Greene and which was given him by his mother.

This picture of Ed & Ruth's sideboard might possibly be a display of their wedding gifts. I suggest this because a) one of the newpaper clippings mentions a gift of the Greene silver service and silver is prominently displayed on the top shelf, and b) why else would you take a picture of a sideboard!

Ed and Ruth rented a 2nd floor apartment in the Haskell house for some years after their marriage. All their children were born in the room at the upper right. As I write this, the house still exists - situated to the right of the Congregational Church.

Later, Ed and Ruth moved to 41 Gothic Street. This was formerly 19 Gothic Street and was owned by Wallace and Sarah (Rideout) Atkins. Sarah was Dora's sister. Dora moved in with Sarah at some point, probably after Wallace's death on November 11th, 1902. Dora inherited the property from Sarah who died February 26th, 1918, passing it on in turn to Ed and Ruth when she died five months later, July 21st, 1918.

This photo was taken in the mid- to late 1960s. (My parents' '65 Dodge is in the driveway at the left.) Ruth's trademark pink petunias fill the window boxes.