How Arthur & Edyth First Met

I don't think any of us ever heard the story of how Arthur and Edyth first met. They'd maintained a simmering feud for as long as anyone could remember, and we had all heard grandma's stories of Arthur's various failings as a husband and father, and a few of us had even heard rumors of infidelity on Edyth's part. So no one thought of asking either of them how they fell in love. It was my father's conviction that they were still fond of one another but, to keep up appearances, they kept their softer sentiments hidden from the family.

Edyth was probably introduced to Arthur through his younger sister, Esther, with whom Edyth had been sharing an apartment in Janesville where they both were grade school teachers. The 1919 City Directory shows them living at 121 Court Street. Edyth is teaching first and second grade at Jackson School, and Esther is teaching second grade at Adams.

1919 Janesville City Directory showing Edyth teaching at Jackson and Esther at Adams School. Elsewhere in the directory we find that they share an apartment at 121 Court Street.

There's a picture of Edyth taken about this time and standing beside a woman I want to believe is Esther. They're both looking very stylish in their hats and furs and have the proud appearance of professional acquaintances rather than close friends or sisters.

Edyth on right, with (possibly) Esther Friedrich, taken around 1920.

Meanwhile, Arthur was in officer's training with the Naval Auxiliary Reserve in Pelham Bay, New York. I imagine Esther inviting Edyth to spend a weekend at the farm when, purely by coincidence, her older brother was home on leave. Could our grandmother have ever been so silly as to fall for a man in uniform? I have no doubt she could, and am confident she did.

Arthur, home on leave from officer's training with the Naval Auxiliary Reserve, about 1918.

Still, it was another three years before they married. Arthur needed to finish his undergraduate studies at Lawrence College and complete a Master's program at Northwestern University in addition to completing his service with the Naval Reserve. Fortunately Armistice was declared just one week into Arthur's officer's training program, so, after graduating, he bravely served his country by performing clerical tasks at the Municipal Ferry Terminal in New York City. He was relieved from active duty on March 8, 1919 and finally discharged (honorably, of course) on May 9, 1922.

They were married in De Pere on June 27th, 1923. Arthur's brother, Elmer, and Edyth's sister, Elma, were witnesses.

Arthur and Edyth's marriage certificate, June 27, 1923, De Pere, Wisconsin.