A wedding at St. Peter’s.

On 31 January 1912, Katherine Mary McNiff and James E. McPadden married at St. Peter’s Church. The following day’s newspaper described a nuptial Mass, followed by a reception and wedding breakfast at the home of Catherine’s mother, Sarah.

For the first time, James and Catherine occupy the same surviving account. The article names the church, family home and people who stood with them. It does not tell us where they first met, how long they courted or what either imagined their life together would become.

Marriage established by a contemporary report and indexA contemporary newspaper report and the marriage-index layer establish the event. The original civil certificate and St. Peter’s register entry are still sought.

Contemporary newspaper report of the McPadden and McNiff wedding in January 1912 — The authentic report carries the public event; the story does not write the missing courtship for them.