Celebrating 95!

At left are William Carl Robert Meinzen (also known as Robert or Bob) and Emma Virginia Bickerstaff, my maternal grandparents. They would be celebrating their 95th year of marriage on Tuesday, September 8, 2009, if they were still alive. They were married in 1914 in the parsonage of the First Methodist Church in Mineral Ridge, Trumbull County, Ohio, by Rev. John Moore (so says a 50th anniversary newspaper article).

They both grew up in and around Steubenville, Ohio. I wish I knew how they met! I can't find any indication that they were neighbors, though I haven't searched census records too diligently to see. And as far as I know, they didn't attend the same church. Perhaps they attended the same school.... I don't know when they moved to Trumbull County. I suspect that Emma moved there with her parents, then Robert followed so they could marry. That's speculation, of course, based on the fact that Emma's parents moved to Mineral Ridge between 1910 and 1920. Robert's brother, Henry (junior) lived in Youngstown in 1916, but Robert's parents and the rest of his family stayed in Steubenville.

I have not yet found a wedding photo nor a newspaper article announcing their marriage. I think Emma was probably a beautiful bride.

At right is a copy of their marriage license and certificate. Even though it's only a photocopy, I'm pleased to have a copy of their signatures.

Happy Anniversary, Gramma and Grampa!
I love you.