Golden Wedding Day of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Clack

SEPT. 12, 1915

Speech by W. R. Clack

Mrs. Clack and I feel honored today by your presence and we extend to you
kindly greetings, and welcome you to our little social gathering. We wish you
to feel yourselves at^Ahome today and free to act as you please. The 12th of
September is an eventful day for Mrs. Clack and myself. On that date in the
year of 1865 we were united in the bonds of holy wedlock and today Sept. 12,
1915 we celebrate our golden wedding anniversary with an informal social and a
family reunion. Fifty years of our wedded life has past and I am proud to say
it has been one of domestic peace and happiness, and we have no cause to regret
the step we made on that delightful September 12, 1865.

However we would not have you to understand that our voyage on the
matrimonial sea was altogether on flowery beds of ease. We have had our joys
and sorrows, trials and hardships, but we never whined or squealed at
misfortune but would lick the flint and try again.

We commenced our double life in poverty at the close of the great civil war
of the states. At that time men who stood on the side of the lost cause (and I
was one of the boys) had but little they could call their own. We simply
married for love and worked for a living.

Our union has been blessed with six children all of whom are living. The
oldest is 48 and the youngest 35 years of age. We gave them all a limited
education, but our battles for a time were thick and fierce to keep the
proverbial wolf from our door, but we have been successful thus far. We are
today free from debt and hold a clear title to our little homestead which is
estimated to be worth from 3 to 4 thousand dollars, and we hold claims for a
few hundred more against good and solvent parties. I attribute all this good
luck to Mrs. Clack’s skill and judicious management of our financial affairs.

Mrs. Clack is 66 and I am 76 years young and we are still blest with
excellent good health and great vitality.

We thank you one and all for honoring us with your presence today and again
bid you welcome, yes thrice welcome on this occasion.

The three articles below were printed below each other in the same column of
the newspaper — EC)

Appreciated

We desire to express sincere appreciation of the honor  and esteem shown us by our many friends and kinfolks, by their presence at our “Golden Wedding” Anniversary,         celebrated Sunday, September the 12th, also for the  many tokens and remembrances received by us in commeration  of the event.

W.R. Clack and Sabria Clack

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GOLDEN WEDDING

Not only one of the most enjoyable events of the season,  but also one of rare occurrence, was the one celebrated  Sunday September the 12th, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W.R. Clack, near Roddy, Tennessee, in honor of their  fiftieth, or golden wedding anniversary.     Besides kinfolks and intimate friends, sixty in number  from the immediate and surrounding country in attendance,  were Mr. and Mrs. S.J. Galloway, Mr. and Mrs. Jessie  Armstrong, of West Plains, Missouri. Many appropriate gifts for the occasion were presented  by the numerous guests, in token of their high esteem and honor toward the hosts.  A very fitting climax for the occasion was the picnic dinner, which was served on the beautiful lawn. Very gratifying indeed to all is the fact, that both  Mr. and Mrs. Clack are enjoying excellent health, and it is  our sincere desire and wish, that they may yet live to  celebrate many more anniversaries.

(R.W. Galloway)

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We think rather hard of Esq. and Mrs. Clack, for omitting to notify some of their Dayton friends of this very interesting celebration, for if there is a citizen in Rhea County who stands very high in the estimation of all the people,  Esq. Clack is the man. We regret very much the lack of opportunity to enjoy the occasion, and especially the picnic dinner, served upon the lawn. Esq. and Mrs. Clack has demonstrated that people can grow old together and retain the buoyancy of youth, for they believe that if you laugh, the world will laugh with you, and that ninety five percent of our troubles are borrowed. The Herald heartily joins in the wish that they may live  to enjoy many more wedding anniversaries.

(Editor)