Happy Heavenly Father’s Day to two of my paternal first loves – father, John Willie Taylor, and grandfather, Willie Taylor, and . . .
. . . to two more of my maternal first loves -grandfather, Joseph Chapple, and great-grandfather, Richard Smith.
Happy Heavenly Mother’s Day to my mom Carrie Chapple Taylor and grandmother, Estella Smith Chapple and . . .
. . . to my paternal grandmother Louise Newsom Hubbard, great-grandmother Olivia Moten Newsom, great-grandmother Birdie Elizabeth Green and 2x great-grandmother Lula Routt Green.
My feature bride and groom today are my parents – John Taylor and Carrie Chapple. If my father was still alive, my parents would have celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary this month/year.
On Sunday the 3rd of April 1949 at 4 PM
John Willie Taylor and Carrie Chapple
Were married!
Their private ceremony was officiated by Rev. Jessie Glover, the Pastor of Canaan Missionary Baptist Church that was located at 2500 Altoona Street at the time. The ceremony and reception occurred in the home of my mom’s sister and brother-in-law — Edward and Ella Louise (Chapple) Marshall who lived at 1708 Chew Street in the Greater Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas community.
Special guests and members of the bridal party in the group photo above were (standing l to r): Joseph Chapple (Father of the Bride), the Best man, John Taylor (Groom), Carrie Taylor (Bride), Sue Wesley (Maid of Honor), Faye Short (Soloist), Ethel (Abram) Chapple (Step-Mother of the Bride). Guests not shown were Juanita Boykins (pianist) and Willie Crosby (photographer).
The groom wore a double-breasted black suit, white shirt, black tie and black shoes. The bride’s wedding gown, veil and opera length bridal gloves in white were purchased from Solo Serve, a popular discount retail chain in downtown Houston, for $25.00!!
Their graduated tier wedding cake with white butter icing topped with a miniature bride and groom was made by her step-mother, Ethel (Abram) Chapple.
If I didn’t know this couple personally, I would have thought their wedding day wasn’t a happy one. Why? No one smiled! There were no smiles on the faces of the bride, the groom, members of the bridal party, or guests in any of these wedding photos! As I got older, I often teased my parents about these pictures. I even asked them, “were you two marrying under duress?! They would simply laugh and shake their heads at me in disbelief, not realizing that I was being serious with them.
Well, despite the solemn looks they had in their wedding photos 67 years ago . . .
they have been all smiles and looking good together ever since!
Well almost wordless . . . Can someone say GQ?! Yes indeed, I now know where my dad got his sense of style and love for hats!
He got it from his father, Willie Taylor, another man of impeccable style in my family tree! Special THANKS to my Aunt Frances Taylor Marshall for sharing this very special photo of her father (my grandfather) with me. I must say when I pulled this photo out of the envelope, all I could do was grin. My grandfather was a very handsome man and I can only imagine his swag was smooth as the man he was too! Now I understand why his wife (my step-grandmother) was so “fiercely” jealous where he was concerned. Yep, Willie was quite dapper in his day. What say you about this man of impeccable style in my family tree?
“On this Veterans Day 2013 and beyond, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free.” – Dan Lipinski
Special THANKS to my dad’s sister for sending me a few military photos she had of my dad in her collection which allowed me to create this great military collage of him for Veterans Day 2013!
Family and friends, be sure to check out my discoveries about the military life of my father over the past couple of years by reading some of the related blog post below:
Military Monday: Maybe a Forgotten War, but not a Forgotten Military Life
Military Monday: Servicemen’s Dependents Allowance Act of 1942
Military Monday: Father’s Army Buddies
Military Monday: Military Payment Certificate (MPC)
Military Monday: Sharpshooter Small Bore Rifle Badge
If you have Sergeant John W Taylor showing up in your family research, let me hear from you because . . .I’m Claiming Kin!
Claiming Kin Genealogy 