As the article states, "53 years ago, Miss Elizabeth Whitcraft and Elijah B. Clowe were married in Ohio...." The monumental 53rd wedding anniversary was well worth a mention in the local newspaper (right now the identity of the newspaper is unknown). Clearly, the event was important event to the Whitcraft family member who assembled the scrapbook, but who were the couple celebrating their 53rd?

      Elijah Bell Clowe was born on March 10, 1825 and his future bride, Sarah Elizabeth Whitcraft, was born in 1833. According to one source, the couple was married in Ohio on August 8, 1850.¹ During the American Civil War, Clowe served in the 151st and 189th Ohio Volunteers.²  A newspaper article suggested that Sarah Elizabeth Whitcraft Clowe suffered some form of paralysis, but little detail was given except to state that she was not bedridden from the disorder.³ Either paralysis came upon the poor woman later in life, or it was not too debilitating, for the union produced seven children.

    Unfortunately, Sarah Elizabeth Whitcraft Clowe died mere months after celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary. She died on November 20, 1903. Elijah Clowe died not too terribly long after his wife of 53 years, passing on January 3, 1905.

     The dates as they appear on their monument in the Holton Cemetery do not quite gel with the ages provided in the article, but those are fairly minor details. What is important is their ability to claim a marriage that lasted 53 years.⁴ Not many couples can lay claim to that particular landmark. On this day, 166 years ago....Best, Pat