Reverend George Taylor, Jr., minister at the First Presbyterian Church, describes the wedding of Gertrude V. Ludden and Charles D. Armstrong in November 1885,
Among the significant happenings of this ministry was a church wedding, the only one performed in the original edifice. It was the marriage of Charles D. Armstrong and Gertrude V. Ludden, which took place in the church Thursday evening, November 19, 1885. For several days the rain had softened the unpaved streets of Wilkinsburg, and on this particular evening they were axle deep with mud. Indeed there were certain sections which had become almost impassable. But in spite of the weather the church was packed to the door long before the hour of the wedding had arrived. The aisles, the windows, and all available spaces were filled, and many were forced to surrender the privilege of witnessing the event because there was no room within.
A knowledge of all the facts reveals the trying and anxious experience which for some time vexes those concerned. It had been planned for the procession to begin promptly at six o’clock, but when that hour arrived only the principals of the bridal party had reached the church. The carriage conveying the other members was stuck in the mud, and all efforts to remove it seemed fruitless. A prominent member of the Church in getting out to help the carriage in distress slipped a little to one side of the plank which had been laid for him. The shower of mud which covered his evening clothes deprived him of the anticipated pleasure in store for the friends at the home.
In the meanwhile the guests at the church were intense with expectancy. For twenty-six minutes their anxious eyes moved at intervals from the altar in the front to the door in the rear. Many reasons were imagined for the cause of the delay, but these were quickly forgotten at the sound of the bridal party coming down the aisle. It is true that the whole affair interfered with the determination of the bride that she would never be late for her wedding, but sometimes lateness seems to bring good luck as it has in this case.
The marriage was performed by the Reverend William S. Miller of Beulah, assisted by the Reverend Samuel H. Moore, and the Reverend R. B. Ewing, D.D., of the Sixth United Presbyterian Church. Had we been in the tower of the church after the visitors began to wend their way homeward the town of Wilkinsburg would have seemed to be alive with will-of-the-wisps as the lanterns which dotted almost every section of the town appeared and disappeared in the mist of that night.
Sue Duff Jackson, born 1864 in Westmoreland County, and her family moved to 800 Wood Street in August 1885,
The place was famous for the mud in those days and my chief diversion was watching the teams stall in Wood Street. Many a time have I seen two or three at a time. . . . There were no paved streets. . . . Lanterns were much in evidence for the Wilkinsburgites stood and walked in slippery places both at night and in daylight.
Sue Duff Jackson tells,
The first social event of the town after our coming to it was the wedding of Gertie Ludden which took place in the Presbyterian Chuch.
The November rains had made Wood St. wetter and muddier than ever and when the wedding guests were wending their way to the church Old Old Colie—the faithful horse of Dr. Semple who had been hitched to a carriage when he reached a point south of Ross Avenue—either from lack of strength to pull or from a show of dignity utterly refused to go a step farther. He halted the procession and the occupants of the carriage with Logan Semple wearing his beaver coat were rescued from the mirey clay from which the carriage was pulled out the next morning. The wedding party had been held up and the guests already assembled in the church consented that the bride had come late.
George Taylor, Jr., A Brief History of The First Presbyterian Church, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh: Reed & Witting, 1916.
Wilkinsburg Public Library Digital Archives:
Sue Duff Jackson, “Old Wilkinsburg,” Wilkinsburg Historical Society.