Wedding Bells

        My parents, Dot and Roscoe, were married at 4 PM, October 16, 1943 In Margate, New Jersey. Those are the facts. We all have facts like these in our family trees. What makes that day come alive are the details which I was fortunate to uncover in a few newspaper articles that described their wedding. And I was able to tie that information to details in Roscoe’s letters home during WWII. Admittedly I have had these newspaper articles for a few years, but never really dug into the details until this week. The things I missed, or didn’t put together until now are pretty fascinating. Having this specific topic “wedding bells” gave me a reason to dig deeper. I am sure glad I did. 

Dot and Roscoe's wedding 10/16/1943 Margate, NJ

My mom’s father, C. Wilbur Harley, was the church organist in the Margate Community Church where Dot and Roscoe were married. For some reason, I had it in my head that Dot’s father would need to play the organ for her wedding, and therefore wouldn’t be able to walk her down the aisle and give her away. I don’t exactly know where I got this idea, but that ended up probably not being the case according to their wedding article that appeared in the local paper. 

Dot's father, C. Wilbur Harley playing the church organ

     Before I get into the actual wedding ceremony, I want to touch on one of my dad’s WWII letters in which he mentioned a few times how much he loved the musical composition “Largo”. This particular letter was written about a year and a half after they were married, when he was stationed overseas.

Roscoe found himself in Rouen, France in March 1945 while serving in the US Army in Europe.  He went into a Red Cross place to get some coffee and doughnuts. There was a French soldier playing the piano. He was playing some beautiful songs, but then he finished a piece and his next number was Largo. All the soldiers in the room quieted down, and here and there you could hear someone hum the tune. Roscoe became very emotional because it meant so much to him to hear this song that was played at their wedding. He said in his letter “it takes me back to the day I married you, and starting our life anew. It might not mean the same to you because you did not hear it the day we were married, but to me it means our marriage itself. When I hear that number everything stops, and I go back to the little Margate church with you.”

part of Roscoe's actual letter of March 3, 1945, transcribed above

I had assumed that it was my grandfather who played Largo on the church organ. at my parents wedding, and that my mom was in another part of the church waiting for her entrance. That second part is probably true. But it wasn’t my grandfather playing Largo. It was a violinist by the name of PFC Ira Baker. He played both “Largo” (by Handel) and the “Meditation” from “Thais” as violin solos. Also S/Sgt R. J. Beacon sang “I Love You Truly.”

So this got me curious. Who was Pfc Ira Baker? The newspaper article said that he was a former concertmaster for Stokowski. That sounded like a big deal, so I looked him up on the internet. What I found blew me away.

Ira Baker’s given name was Israel. I don’t know why he was called Ira during the war. He was a child prodigy on the violin, being heard on national radio at the age of six. He indeed did serve as concertmaster under Leopold Stokowski’s All American Youth Orchestra, and later was a member of Toscinini’s NBC Symphony Orchestra. But was this the same person? And if so, why did he play two violin solos at my parents’ wedding in Margate NJ?

Well, it turns out, during WWII he had enlisted in the Army Air Force, and was stationed in Atlantic City (Margate is a small suburb of Atlantic City), where he entertained wounded troops. Ok, now it totally makes sense, as my dad was in the Army medical admin corps at this Army hospital in Atlantic City, and my mom worked for the Army colonel at the same hospital. So they all must have known each other. 

Thomas England General Hospital, on the boardwalk of Atlantic City. The US Army requisitioned Haddon Hall resort during WWII to serve as a hospital for wounded troops.

I also have researched Ira Baker’s name in newspapers.com in Atlantic City, and was amazed to learn that he played the violin at many military, church, and social functions while he was stationed there. His name was in the local newspaper almost daily. After the war, he went on to have a very successful musical career. If you would like to learn more about him, you can start with his wiki page here: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Baker

There is a lot more that I could write about Dot and Roscoe’s wedding day, but I don’t want this to go on too long. So I am attaching the newspaper article here. Take note that the headline does have my dad’s surname spelled incorrectly. It is Hinch.  No matter.

Having these details about the music, information about one of the musicians who played for their ceremony, the descriptions of what they wore, the flowers, and the names of their attendants, plus their photo upon leaving the church truly makes this day come alive for me. 

colorized closeup of Dot and Roscoe's wedding. The colors don't match the newspaper article exactly, but it is still interesting.

As a side note: My brothers and I were trying to determine which “Largo” was actually played that day, as there are two totally different compositions by that name. Was it Largo from the opera Xerxes by Handel, or was it Largo from the New World Symphony by Dvorak? The fact is we cannot be sure. However I believe it was Handel’s Largo, because I found other newspaper columns and notices where Ira Baker was playing Handel’s Largo at other events in Atlantic City while he was stationed there. 

    I hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane. I hope I did my parents proud with this write up, and that I didn't get too many things wrong. I truly did enjoy delving into these details, and hopefully I was able to bring this day to life.