GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY.
On the 15th of April, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer commemorated the Fiftieth Anniversary of their marriage at their home in Council Bluffs. Many invitations were issued, nearly all of which were generously responded to, and their house was filled with guests from three o’clock in the afternoon when the reception began until late in the evening. Over one hundred persons were in attendance. A local paper describes the affair as follows:
“The reception of the guests began at three o’clock. At the front-parlor entrance stood Mr. Bloomer attired in a black broadcloth suit. Next to him sat Mrs. Bloomer. She wore a black-satin costume en train with gray damascene front, crêpe lace in the neck, diamond ornaments. There were present Chas. A. Bloomer and wife, of Buffalo, N. Y., N. J. Milliken and wife, of Ontario County, N. Y., and Miss Hannah Kennedy, of Omaha. Chas. A. Bloomer is a brother of D. C. Bloomer, and is president of the Buffalo Elevator Company. N. J. Milliken is a nephew by marriage and publisher of the Ontario County Times, of New York. These constituted the reception company. The evening reception commenced at eight o’clock, and lasted until a late hour. Among the callers were the vestry of St. Paul’s Church, who paid their respects in a body to the worthy couple.”
Mrs. Harris read a beautiful poem, and an original poem was also read by Mrs. C. K. White, of Omaha, and Prof. McNaughton, superintendent of city schools, read the following address:
“To Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer: It seems meet and proper on this joyous occasion that the public schools, their officers and teachers and pupils, should send kindly greetings to one who for the past thirty-five years has extended to them a generous sympathy and, in the earlier days of their existence, rendered them distinguished service by aiding in the erection of a well-planned and commodious edifice, the adoption of a wise curriculum, and the laying of a broad and deep foundation upon which has been reared the fair structure of to-day; one who has aided the teachers and pupils by words of wise counsel and kindly sympathy and is, by common consent, regarded as the father of the public-school system of the city.
“To you, Mr. Bloomer, and your estimable and noted wife, in behalf of the public schools of the city, I wish to offer sincere and hearty congratulations; congratulations that, under a rare dispensation of Providence, you have been permitted to enjoy together a half-century of companionship in the sacred bonds of family ties—fifty years of mutual helpfulness and love! fifty years of sowing and reaping together in the fields whose fruitage is intelligent progress and eternal joy! And now, amid the abundance of the harvest, in the golden glories of life’s autumn, may you be long permitted to remain among your devoted and admiring friends!”
The following letter from Miss Susan B. Anthony was received and read:
“Washington, April 9th, 1890.
“My Dear Friends, Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer:—
“And is your Golden Wedding to be here April 15, 1890? That seems quite as impossible as that I should have rounded out my three score and ten years on February 15, 1890, just two months before.
“Well, your lives have been side by side for a whole half-century, and this, too, when the wife has been one of the public advocates of the equality of rights, civil and political, for women. I hardly believe another twain made one, where the wife belonged to the school of equal rights for women, have lived more happily, more truly one.
“Your celebration of your fiftieth wedding day is one of the strongest proofs of the falseness of the charge brought against our movement for the enfranchisement of women, viz., that the condition of equality of political rights for the wife will cause inharmony and disruption of the marriage bond. To the contrary, such conditions of perfect equality are the best helps to make for peace and harmony and elevation in all true and noble directions. Hence I rejoice with you on having reached the golden day of your marriage union, not only for your own sakes, but for our cause’s sake as well.
“I wish I could be present in your happy home on that day, but the marriage of my younger sister’s son, on April 17th, takes me to Cleveland to witness the starting out of two dear young people on the way you have traveled so long and so well.
“So, with gratitude for the good work done in the first fifty years of your married life, and wishing for you many more equally happy, and hoping that both you and I and Mrs. Stanton and others of the pioneers of our great movement may live to see not only Wyoming fully in the Union but many others redeemed from the curse of sex aristocracy, hoping and believing I am
“Very sincerely yours,
“Susan B. Anthony.”
The following telegram was received from Bishop Perry, of Iowa:
“Davenport, April 15th, 1890.
“Hon. D. C and Mrs. Bloomer:—
“Congratulations and benedictions. Fifty golden years exhaust neither love nor hope.
“William Stevens Perry,
“Bishop of Iowa.”
Rev. G. W. Crofts also furnished a timely and very beautiful poem. Because of his inability to attend the reception, he called upon the couple Monday afternoon and in a few well chosen words presented it to them. It was the production of the minister’s own pen, and handsomely written on embossed cardboard fastened with orange-tinted ribbons. The poem was beautifully illustrated by Miss S. D. Phere, the cuts being the representations of a well-spent life. Upon its receipt Mrs. Bloomer and her husband were greatly moved. The poem is as follows:
“1840. April 15. 1890.
“To Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer.
“The Psalmist says that he who goes forth with tears,
Conveying precious seed, shall doubtless come again
Rejoicing, bringing with him sheaves. ’Tis fifty years
Since you as one were made, and out upon the plain
Of Life’s great field together moved, ‘mid hopes and fears,
And in your faithful bosoms bearing golden grain.
“To-day you come with sheaves, oh rich and golden sheaves!
Immortal sheaves, sheaves glowing in the light of heaven
So softly sifting down thro’ life’s autumn leaves;
And, while the clouds that deck the sky above are riven,
I see the angels smile. And who is there that grieves
When noble souls in life’s great harvest-field have striven?
“This is a day of joy and praise, a crowning day!
Together you have walked for fifty years, and He
Who made your hearts to beat as one thro’ all the way
Has been your guide, His voice has stilled the stormy sea;
In darkest hours, you’ve heavenward looked and seen the ray
Of cloudless hope shine down with sweet tranquillity.
“When worn with toil, His loving arms have given you rest;
Sustaining grace He gave when you were weak and faint;
When sorrows came, ’twas then the haven of His breast
That opened wide and took you in. To each complaint
He lent His ear. In all things, you were truly blest
And ever upward drawn by love’s divine constraint.
“And now upon a lofty Mount you stand and look
Back o’er your pilgrim way; back o’er the fields you’ve sown
You see the stubborn soil, the burning sun, the nook
Where you did rest; and all the way is overstrown
With flowers; flower-wreathed you see the plow and pruning-hook.
And on that Mount there comes to you a fadeless crown.
“To Faithfulness there comes a crown, a Crown of Life;
’Tis one the Lord doth give to those who serve Him well,
To heroes true and strong amid the daily strife
’Tween right and wrong. For such, the sweetest anthems swell
By holy angels sung, and joy on earth is rife,
While thro’ the vanished years you hear a golden bell.
“Foremost in every noble work, in every cause
Where God leads on, where Light is seen, where Truth is heard,
There have you stood from first to last, the eternal laws
Of Right obeyed. Where’er your lips could frame a word
To voice the thought, a hand could strike the great applause
Of onward march, your helpful force has been conferred.
“To you, this day, a grateful people tribute bring
For all you’ve been to them, for all your steadfastness,
For all your words and deeds; for every noble thing,
They would this day your true and honest worth confess;
They would a golden cup, filled from Affection’s spring,
Hold out to you, and thus their gratitude express.
“Take, then, the Crown. Both heaven and earth proclaim it yours,
The Sower’s crown, the Reaper’s crown, that glows with light,
That glows with light and love, and one that aye endures.
The Evening Star, that hangs upon the fringe of night
And, like a lamp, the weary wanderer allures
And tells him of his home afar, is not more bright.
“Look round you, then, crowned as you are, and upward, too:
Here shine the golden sheaves; there gleam the jasper walls;
Around you gather here the noble, good and true,
With hearts aglow, and chant their tender madrigals.
Around, above, all things are wreathed in smiles for you,
While on you, like a burst of sun, God’s blessings fall!”
Many valuable presents were received. One was an elegant silver tea-set from the lawyers of the city; another a beautiful ice-cream set of solid silver in a handsomely ornamented plush case of old-gold velvet, from the rector and vestrymen of St. Paul’s Church. Other elegant souvenirs were sent in by friends from abroad. Indeed, the gifts were so numerous and of so great variety that they almost proved a burden to the recipients who, however, realized that they came to them from generous friends with hearts full of love and kindness, and most thankfully received them.