Bill and Vera Storie get Married

One hundred years ago today, on September 8, 1915, Vera Davidson, daughter of Douglas Davidson (1851-1923) and Margaret J. Hoy (1866-1936), was married to William Storie, son of John W. Storie (1863-1944) and Jennie Laidlaw (1866-1937) at the Bovina United Presbyterian Church. Vera and Bill's wedding was the first wedding in probably about 50 years that took place in a Bovina church. Weddings in the latter half of the 19th and into the early 20th century usually were held in homes.

From the September 10, 1915 Andes Recorder:

A September Bride in Bovina

Miss Vera Davidson and William J. Storie United in Marriage at U.P. Church, September 8

     Wednesday evening, September 8, at the United Presbyterian Church at Bovina Center, in the presence of 150 invited guests, Rev. J.A. Mahaffey spoke the solemn words that united in marriage Miss Vera Davidson, daughter of Douglas Davidson, and William J. Storie, also of Bovina. Miss Jane Hilson presided at the piano and the bride was given away at the altar by her father. The ushers were George Storie, a brother of the groom, and Fletcher Davidson, brother of the bride.
The bride looked charming in a dress of white taffeta silk and carried white roses. The bridemaids, Miss Clara Howard, of Ithaca, N.Y., and Miss Kathryn Reynolds of Andes, were gowned in flowered pink voile and carried pink roses, while the flower girls, Jeanette Laidlaw and Helen Gladstone, carried white and pink sweet peas. The groom was attended by George Johnson, of Bovina.
Following the ceremony the wedding party was taken by auto to the Davidson home, where a reception was held and luncheon served to about 30 guests.
The decorations at the church were green and pink and in the home autumn leaves.
Guests were present from Ithaca and other out of town places and they presented the bride with many beautiful presents.
Mr. and Mrs. Storie were taken to Oneonta by auto and their trip will include points in the west.

The September 15, 1915 Delaware Gazette also reported the wedding and provided some additional information. "The church was handsomely decorated with evergreens and bouquets of asters." The paper also noted that the march played by Jane Hilson was "the wedding march from Lohengrin..." The ushers, bridesmaids and flower girls entered the church, followed by "the bride leaning on the arm of her father. She wore a beautiful gown of white taffeta with long flowing veil caught with a wreathe of white sweet peas, and carried a bouquet of white roses." After the ceremony, the couple and their guests went to the bride's home, where "delicious refreshments were served...after which the newly weds ran the gauntlet of rice and confetti flung by their friends...."

The Gazette noted that "Mr. and Mrs. Storie are among Bovina Center's best known and cultured young people. He received his education at Stamford Seminary and Westminster. Mrs. Storie is a 1909 graduate of Delaware Academy, finished her education at Cornell and Leland Stanford University, Cal., and has taught successfully the past two years. Their popularity is evidenced by a wealth of valuable wedding gifts - silverware, linen, cut-glass, china and other things."

The Catskill Mountain News for September 24, 1915, reported on a slightly different aspect of the Storie-Davidson wedding.

Bill and Vera lived in Bovina their entire married lives and would be married forty-seven years. Bill died in June 1963, Vera four years later in 1967. They would have two children, daughter Rae, born in 1922, and son John, born 1925. John tragically died in a sledding accident when he was 12. Rae would marry Gene Vandenbord and passed away in 2009.

The pictures below come from Bill and Vera's granddaughter, Judy Bauer

Vera on her wedding day

Vera and Bill Storie

Faces of Bovina - Bill Storie - "A Highly Respected Citizen"

Fifty years ago this week, former Bovina Supervisor and former Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, William J. Storie passed away.  Having lived in Bovina his whole life, he was the Bovina Town Supervisor for 14 years - the longest tenure of any Bovina Supervisor to that date (later to be exceeded by Frank McPherson, 20 years, and Charlie LaFever, 24 years).  Below is his obituary as reported in the Delaware Republican Express in its June 6, 1963 issue:

Long-Time Supervisor Passes Away

    With the passing of William J. Storie on Sunday morning, June 2, Bovina Center lost a highly respected citizen and many lost a kind friend.  Mr. Storie passed away at his home following an extended illness. 
    He was born February 29, 1892, in Bovina, and was the son of John W. and Jennie Laidlaw Storie.  On September 8, 1915, Vera Davidson became his wife at the Bovina Center United Presbyterian Church.
    Mr. Storie served as Town of Bovina Supervisor for 14 years and was Clerk of the Delaware County Board of Suprvisors for 25 years, 1937-1962.  He had also operated a large dairy farm.
    A lifelong member of the Bovina Center United Presbyterian Church, Mr. Storie was ever active int he work of the church of which he served as an elder for 41 years.  He was past treasurer of the Metropolitan Milk Producers Cooperative Bargaining Agency. 
    "Bill" always wore a broad smile and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
    His survivors are Mrs. Storie; one daughter, Mrs. Eugene Vandenbord of Delhi; one brother, George Storie of Bovina center; three grandchildren.
    Funeral rites were held Wednesday at the United Presbyterian Church in Bovnia Center and were conducted by the pastor, Rev. Maynard Grunstra.  Interment ws in Bovina Center Cemetery.  Serving as pallbearers were Clifford Burgin, Jack Hilson, David Roberts, Jack Damgaard, Craig Banuat and Lester McPherson.
    Arrangements were by the R.J. McCall Funeral Home of Delhi.

The obituary did not mention that Bill was predeceased by his twelve year old son John in 1938, the result of injuries sustained in a sledding accident. 

The obituary that appeared in the Catskill Mountain news was similar, but noted that Storie was "for a greater part of his life prominent in Delaware county affairs."

Bill's tenures as town supervisor and clerk of the board overlapped for two years.  He became clerk in 1937 but was supervisor of Bovina until the end of 1938.  Storie noted this overlap to the reporter for the Binghamton Press when he retired as clerk in 1962, stating “That’s irregular as hell, but no one ever criticized it...”

The two Bob Wyer photos below show Bill in his role as Clerk of the Board of Supervisor.

This Wyer photo was taken in January 1940.  With Bill is his secretary Helen Penfield.  Photo courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association.

This photo of Bill was also taken at the County Courthouse by Bob Wyer, dating from December 1951.  Photo courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association