STAFFORD, Thomas and GOBEN, Polly – (m. 1852)
MARRIAGE EXTRAORDINARY – At Floyd’s Fork, Jefferson county, on the 15th, by the Rev. Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. Thomas STAFFORD was married to Polly GOBEN. The bride is 19, and the bridegroom 77 years of age. He weights some 300 pounds, and is so fat as scarcely able to walk, and when in bed raises himself or turns over, by means of pullies fastened to the ceiling.
He came to the city in a wagon to procure the license, and on his return was met by the young bride at Sim LEWIS’s, at the Forks of the road, where the parson joined them, and the ceremony was performed in the wagon, and they rode home together rejoicing.
Source: Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, TN); 6 May 1852. Available online at Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.