Family Nibbles

Tom Gallagher and Catherine Riley were going to marry. The wedding date was set – Saturday, June 10, 1922.

There were parties and bridal showers.

The Reids hosted a dinner party, Hurleys an announcement party. Mary McEniry and Lucille Cotterman had a bridge luncheon. The McGraths entertained at a porch party.

The Bride’s Book

We’re lucky. We have Catherine’s Bride’s Book. Let’s learn about the wedding from the Bride’s Book.

We’ll accompany that with the Sedalia Democrat’s account of the wedding published Sunday, June 11.

The ceremony

The wedding day dawned warm and sunny. The ceremony was at 6 o’clock in the morning. That’s 6:00 A.M. It was celebrated at Sacred Heart Church, Father Christian Daniel officiating.

The bride wore…

Witnesses and attendees

Witnesses were Mary Agnes Riley and Henry Gallagher.

Out-of-town guests included Tom’s mother Ellen Gallagher of Lamar, and Tom’s boss Jesse Cole of Nevada, Missouri.

A honeymoon trip

Perhaps the reason for the 6 am ceremony was for the newlyweds to catch the 7:15 train to Kansas City and on to Chicago.

Chicago

Tom and Catherine stayed at the luxury LaSalle Hotel, in the Chicago loop.

The hotel was planned, designed and built in the commercial district of Chicago as an upscale hotel for an elite and influential clientele, with luxurious and stately walnut-paneled rooms and lobbies. An elegant roof top garden was planned as a major attraction. When it was opened in 1909, it was hailed as the “largest, safest, and most modern hotel west of New York.”

La Salle Hotel – Wikipedia

The new hotel contains a total of 1,172 rooms, of which 1,048 are guest rooms with nearly 1,000 of which have baths and all the modern conveniences, and each room has hot and cold running water.

Hotel La Salle – Digital Research Library of Illinois History

Notes from home

The newlyweds received lots of notes and letters from well-wishers back home.

Shopping and touring

No doubt Catherine and Tom made the circuit of downtown department stores. Catherine could shop, while Tom probably enjoyed the logistics and displays. The grand Marshall Field department store was just three blocks from the hotel. The main floor was more than 400 feet long.

Dining and dancing

Catherine and Tom danced and dined and visited the hotel’s rooftop garden.

They must have been the most stylish couple on the dance floor. After all, Catherine had access to the newest fashions from Cole’s. She brought along four pairs of shoes, five hats, and a fur.

And as we’ve read before, Tom was a terrific dancer.

Back home

Too soon the honeymoon was over. Tom and Catherine were back in Sedalia.

Tom and Catherine were at home in Apartment 4A in the Hurley Apartments at Third and Quincy.

The apartments were owned by Catherine’s sister Irene’s family – the Hurleys. There were Hurley apartments all over town. The Hurleys had become a prominent Sedalia family. Edward Hurley was a developer and contractor in Sedalia in the late-1800s.

First dinner

The couple’s first dinner at home was an elegant one.

Catherine fixed a fabulous dinner to welcome them home. On Tuesday, June 20, 1922, the meal was presented at 6 o’clock. That’s 6:00 P.M.

• Consommé
• Courthouse Steak
• Creamed Potatoes and Gravy
• Stuffed Tomatoes
• Hot Rolls
• Cantaloupe a la Mode

The wedding and honeymoon were over. It had been perfect. Now the couple would take up married life back home in Sedalia.

Timeline

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Sources

• Newspaper articles – The Junction City Daily Union – various dates – newspapers.com
• Newspaper articles – The Sedalia Democrat – various dates – newspapers.com
• Wedding shower place cards – Teply Family Documents and Memorabilia
• Catherine Riley wedding suit – Teply Family Documents and Memorabilia
• The Bride’s Book – Catherine Riley Bride’s Book – Teply Family Documents and Memorabilia
• Quotation – La Salle Hotel – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Salle_Hotel
• Image – La Salle Hotel Lobby – Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Salle_Hotel_Lobby.jpg
• Image and quotation – La Salle Hotel – Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal – https://drloihjournal.blogspot.com/2019/06/hotel-lasalle-history-and-the-1946-fire-chicago-Illinois.html
• Images – Marshall Fields department store – Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of American History – https://americanhistory.si.edu/american-enterprise-exhibition/corporate-era/shopping
• Image – Chicago street scene State and Wabash – Marshall Field’s – PDX History – http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/marshall_fields.html
• Image – Hotel La Salle Roof Garden announcement – Teply Family Documents and Memorabilia
• Image – At Home and Our First Dinner – The Bride’s Book – Catherine Riley Bride’s Book – Teply Family Documents and Memorabilia
• Image – Hurley Apartments at Third and Quincy and 223 West 6th Street – Google Maps 2022
• Music – Wedding March – Felix Mendelssohn – Daily Download – Your Classical – https://www.yourclassical.org/episode/2019/08/01/daily-download-felix-mendelssohn–a-midsummer-nights-dream-wedding-march