Marriage of Elizabeth Tibbets Pratt in NYC 1881

A marriage announcement like the one published in the New York Times on 22 April 1881 can help unravel family relationships and perhaps reveal unspoken issues within the family. Several of those named below were not instantly recognized  as they were identified only as “spouse of “ and, in one case, the surname was misspelled.

Distinguished relatives of the bride:

                                    Grandmother

Mrs Tibbets of Albany

                                    Great Aunts

Mrs Nelson, of New Brunswick, NJ

Mrs Horatio Seymour, wife of ex-Governor

Mrs Roscoe Conkling, wife of the Senator

So, I wondered who they were and how they were related to the bride Elizabeth, daughter of Col George Watson Pratt (deceased) and Anna Atwood Tibbets.  I found it curious that there was no mention of any relatives from her father’s side of the family making me wonder if they had lost contact with that branch after George’s tragic death in 1862. It is also interesting that no aunts or uncles are mentioned, only great aunts. Even odder was no mention at all of the groom’s family.

The bride’s mother, Anna Atwood Tibbets (1833-1921) was the middle child of 5 born to Benjamin Tibbets (1798-1859) and Elizabeth Bleecker (1804-1882). She had married George Watson Pratt, son of Zadock Pratt and Abigail Watson, in 1855 and was only 29 when widowed, leaving her with two young children.

I was able to identify the distinguished female guests:

Mrs Tibbets of Albany was Elizabeth Bleecker, widow of Benjamin, age 77

            Daughter of John Rutger Bleecker + Eliza TenEyck Atwood

            Maternal grandmother of the bride

            Mrs N­EILSON of New Brunswick

                        widow of James, was Catherine Bleecker (1809-1893)

Daughter of JR Bleecker and his 2^nd wife Hester, half-sister of Elizabeth

            Mrs Horatio Seymour was Mary Bleeker (1812-1886),

Also the daughter of JR Bleecker and Hester, half-sister of Elizabeth

            Mrs Roscoe Conkling was Julia Seymour (1827-1893), sister of Horatio

                        Not directly related, sister-in-law to her great aunt

In reviewing the family of the bride’s grandmother, Elizabeth Bleecker Tibbets, it became apparent that both of her half-sisters (Catherine Bleecker Neilson and Mary Bleecker Seymour) were mentioned, but her older sister Sarah Bleecker Tibbets* of Troy, NY was not. It seems the family – or perhaps just the NYT journalist -- may have been focused on political status (Governor and Senator) and extraordinary wealth (James Neilson) in their definition of “Distinguished” guests.

As I happen to descend from the Watson family line of George Watson Pratt, I know that accomplished and well-to-do relatives from that side of the family were alive and living on 5^th Avenue in NYC in 1881 but seemingly were not part of the celebratory crowd.

           

* Sarah (1802-1883) m George Mortimer Tibbets in 1824 – not certain if they were related