During the summer I continued working for the implement agent and in the winter I carted and sold wood in town. My fiancee’s father was considering a move to Beausejour because news had reached him that many of his compatriots were settling there. This bothered Anastasia and me. Rather than be separated we decided to get married as soon as possible. Our parents gave their consent so on February 22nd, 1905, for the sum of $2.00, we hired the finest pair of horses in the district and our best man drove us to Gilbert Plains where we were married. I had turned seventeen in December and Anastasia was only fifteen.
Illustration: the drive to Gilbert Plains for the wedding on 22 February 1905. Not likenesses.Illustration: the drum in the wedding orchestra.
The wedding festivities, as was customary at the time, lasted two days. The orchestra, composed of a violin, a dulcimer and a drum, provided music for the dancing. The charge was $3.00. After the wedding I returned to work for my agent.
Illustration: the two-day wedding dance and its three-piece orchestra.
Illustrated online edition. The memoir text follows the 2011 copy compiled by Rene Nicholas Bilodeau.
