February 14, 2017
You are reading
“Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society. Today’s story
is about a “Valentine’s Day Wedding." One of Geary County’s earliest love
stories began during the turbulent days of July 1855, when the first
territorial legislature met in the little town of Pawnee, which no longer
exists. That area is now a part of the Fort Riley reservation. New settlers
were pouring into the new town every day. A 16 year old girl by the name of
Ruth Barry, had come from Pennsylvania with her brother-in-law and his family. Arriving
at the same time as the delegates to the legislature, the Barry family was
recruited to assist with the efforts to feed the delegates, even before they had
found lodging or shelter for themselves. Young Ruth was put to work making over
70 pies under the most primitive conditions.
Among the
dignitaries was Governor Andrew Reeder and a young man by the name of Gabert
Fischer Gordon. Gabert was placed at the Governor’s table that night when Ruth
served pieces of the pies she had made. According to family accounts, it was
love at first sight. Even though Mr. Gordon was considerably older than Ruth he
courted her persistently during the cholera epidemic and destruction of the
town of Pawnee and… he eventually won her hand.
On a February night in 1856, Ruth and her
sister crossed the frozen Kansas River in an ox-drawn sleigh made from a
converted lumber wagon. Their destination was the former Territorial Capitol
building which had become the quarters of the Post Chaplain and his family. It
was in that building and on Valentine’s Day 1856 where she and Gabert Gordon
were married. The wedding took place in the same room where just months before
the issues of slavery, freedom and the future of Kansas had been debated.
Happy Valentine’s
Day from the Geary County Historical Society.
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