Source: Madison-Jefferson Co. Public Library, 420 W. Main St., Madison, IND. Genealogy Department -- the LATTIMORE family file folder: Newspaper clipping from the Madison Courier 07 OCT 1874 Column entitled: "The County" Article entitled: Golden Wedding To the child a half century seems a very long time; to the middle-aged person, it does not seem near so long; to the very aged it seems but a very short time. To think of a half century is to carry the mind over many and varied changes. Yet half centuries come and go. It is a very rare thing that persons are permitted to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding; so rare that the occasion is called the golden wedding. It must be very interesting to those persons who have passed a half century in married life, to look back and recall he many changes that have taken place since the minister pronounced them husband and wife till death should part them. But all of this moralizing is but the preclude to a description of one of those "golden occasions." On the 3d. of October 1824, Zephaniah LLOYD and Ann LATTIMORE were united in the holy bonds of matrimony, b the rev. Amos CHITWOOD. As the fiftieth anniversary of this event drew near, Mr. LLOYD determined to celebrate it as became the day, and by special request, your reporter was in attendance to gather some items. And items there were in abundance. the only trouble was to select what to note and what to omit. When your reporter reached Mr. LLOYD's, he found a boy ready to take his horse to the stable, so he got out and was cordially welcomed by the old gentleman. By request, he gave some scraps of the history connected with the occasion. Mr. LLOYD was born in Maryland, November 1805; came to Indiana in 1817, and to the place he now occupies in 1823. Consequently, he has spent all his married life on the same place. His wife, nee Ann LATTIMORE, was born in North Carolina, January 1800, and came to Indiana in 1811. Mr. and Mrs. LLOYD have been blessed with nine children, six girls and three boys, all of whom lived to maturity and married. One girl is now dead. The number of grand-children in the family, with first name of parent, is as follows: Isabel, four, all living; Elizabeth, five living, three dead; Jane, six living, four dead; Rhoda, eight living, one dead; Rebecca, four living, one dead; Delpha, three living, one dead; Oliver, two living; Zephaniah, two living; Marion, one living. After the recital of these interesting facts, Mr. LLOYD gave some items in regard to his farm. When he came to it there was but little land fitted for tillage, the deadened trees still standing on that little. Now he has a large farm open and the best of improvements, such as a fine stone barn, brick house, wood-house, engine-room, mill, etc. To illustrate Mr. LLOYD's energy, it is only necessary to tell a story. One night he could not sleep, so he got to thinking about a clothes drier, and he thought out the plan of a decided success. Early in the morning he went to work and completed his idea, and now he has one of the neatest things in this line that can be imagined. He laughed about some persons who were going along saying "LLOYD is going to have great times, he has a flying dutchman up." Some old relics were then exhibited to your reporter. One was a pair of pants over a hundred years old. To a modern they looked comical enough. Next some linen pillow cases, homemade, "made in the times when women worked," remarked the old gentleman. Then a linen sheet and two samples of cloth. All these were entirely manufactured by hand. They were all good specimens of handiwork. Another relic was a bread-tray that had been used for eighty years. The dining hall was next inspected. The porch had been extended by a temporary floor and canvas covering, so as to make room for tables long enough to seat twenty-five persons at a table. There were three tables. The canopy was nicely decorated with cedar, white stars, red joined hearts and bouquets of flowers. Against the wall were hanging large photographs of Mr. and Mrs. LLOYD, Senator MORTON and General SCOTT. At 12 o'clock precisely the bell rang for dinner, and the Marshal of the occasion, Mr. Isaac EARHART, called each old settler to the table; these were seated at the center table. Then he called until the other tables were filled up. When it comes to describing this part of the programme, the pen of your reporter is entirely inadequate to the task. It is enough to say hat the tables fairly "groaned" under the load of good things. No expense had been spared to make the dinner worthy of the great occasion. When the guests had been seated, a blessing was asked by Lewis HARTWELL, and Mr. LLOYD, in a few words, asked the guess to eat heartily, as it was probably the last dinner that some of them would eat together. His request was literally obeyed, for every one seemed to enjoy the dinner to the "fullest" extent of his ability. At the second table, the center one was occupied by the LLOYD family, only one seat being vacant, the Rev. Mr. LATHROP, in well-chosen words, returned thanks to the Creator for His goodness to the family, and prayed that it might continue through life. After the dinner had been eaten, Mr. Charles K. LARD presented a Bible to Mr. and Mrs. LLOYD, with a few words appropriate to the occasion. He concluded by requesting the Rev. LATHROP to read the 103d Psalm. Mr. LATHROP replied in behalf of Mr. and Mrs. LLOYD, and a concluding prayer offered by Mr. LATHROP, and the formalities of the occasion were over. The cooks upon this occasion were the daughters of the host and hostess, and the feast displayed their skill and ability in the mysteries of the cuisine. The relics were exhibited to the guests, and created much amusement to think of the difference between then and now. On this occasion there were present to assist in the festivities, four persons who were in attendance at the original wedding of Mr. LLOYD, viz: Joshua CHITWOOD, Ellen JONES, Ann THICKSTEIN and D. MCCURRY. As it was now 3 o'clock the guests began to depart to their respective homes feeling that they had been entertained in a manner which they would never forget, although they should be allowed to celebrate their golden wedding. May Mr. and Mrs. LLOYD live many years to enjoy the fruits of their temperance, energy and industry, is the fervent wish of your reporter. List of the names of old settlers in attendance at Mr. LLOYD's golden wedding, with their ages, nativity, and the year in which they came to Indiana: D.L. CHITWOOD 70, N.C., 1807 John DUFFY 72, Penn., 1820 John H. FEWEL 72, Va., 1822 Aguilla ROBERTSEN 70, Ind. Ter. John L. JONES 58, Ind. James JACKSON 91, N.C., 1814 S. C. HUMPHREYS 64, Ky., 1824 R. P. NAY 54, Ind. Stephen RICE 76, N.Y., 1818 James OFFICER 59, Ky., 1815 John TAIT 58, Ireland, 1858 Job HUGHES 60, Penn., 1841 John L. Wilson 55, Ind. James B. CHAMBERS 50, Ind. A. W. COOPERIDER 49, Ind. Anthony ROCK 49, Poland, 1854 Geo. H. BLACK 47, Ind. John O. LATTIMORE 64, N.C., 1811 Lewis HARTWELL 56, Ind. Nancy HARTWELL 65, Ohio, 1837 Wm. CHAMBERS 84, N.C., 1809 Thos. DRYDEN 81, Md., 1820 Ephram HARTWELL 81, Vt., 1815 Nancy VAN HORN 80, Ky., 1816 Philip GILTNER 58, Ky., 1837 Elizabeth FEWEL 66, Penn., 1817 Jane G. WILEY 70, Ky., 1810 Sophia BOWLES 56, Ind. Lockey HUMPHREY 62, Va., 1844 Phebe CHITWOOD 55, Ind. Francis WYNE 79, Va., 1844 Betsy S. DAVIS 85, Ky., 1815 Rhoda CURRY 51, Ind. Mary JONES 60, Ohio, 1844 Lucretia MCCURRY 45, Ohio, 1833 Jemma BAXTER 52, Ind. Charles. K. LARD 65, Vt., 1820 John E. BAXTER 56, Ky., 1824 Wm. MONROE 66, Ky., 1810 Wm. JONES 61, Ind. Wm. J. CHITWOOD 46, Ind. Isaac EARHRT 50, Ohio, 1837 Isabel EARHART 44, Ind. Wm. BOWLES 66, Ireland, 1815 Wm. KISTLER 49, Ind. Louisa STUCKER 63, Penn., 1811 Henry HAYS 58, Ind. C. J. NAY 52, Ind. Nancy GILTNER 50, Ind. Martha OFFICER 55, Ind. Ann THICKSTEIN 63, Ind. P. P. WILEY 64, Ohio, 1816 Wm. DUFFY 69, Penn., 1819 Elizabeth DUFFY 59, Ohio, 1832 Ann WILEY 54, Ind. Henry WALTON 51, Ind. Ellen TAIT (no age given), N.C., 1811 Mary A. WALTON 49, Ind. Thos. L. JONES 55, Ind. David MCCURRY 58, Ind. Rebecca MCCURRY 55, Ky., 1821 Sarah JONES 68, Ky., 1815 Betsy CHITWOOD 54, Va., 1820 Joshua CHITWOOD 75, N.C. Thos. CHAPMAN 49, Ind. end of record