Bert Aldrich and Emma De Keyser
According to family tradition, they met at an ice rink. She must have melted Bert’s heart in spite of the cold winter weather because one evening later they were at a party together. Bert came home and announced to his nephew, Francis Lyman Aldrich, “The girl I kissed at the party tonight is the girl I’m gong to marry.” It was Emma that he had kissed that night, and it was Emma that he married.
Emma was younger in the upper left photo with the bow, but as she became closer to marriageable age, she started wearing her hair in a more stylish pompadour hair-do which was very fashionable in that day. She is also wearing pince-nez eyeglasses which clipped to the nose with a spring. The Gibson Girl look with high collars, feminine ruffles and long, full sleeves was in at that time. The bottom left photo is taken from her wedding picture.
In the upper left photo, Bert is in his work clothes. High starched collars were in fashion for men’s dress wear then. The Bottom right picture is taken from their wedding picture also.
This is the marriage certificate that Charles Wilbur and Emma (De Keyser) Aldrich received from the Methodist Episcopal Church. Although no witnesses are named here, the marriage certificate issued by Brown County, Wisconsin names them as Emma Dury and Ed De Keyser.
Bert and Emma (De Keyser) Aldrich provided a loving home for their children. Years after their marriage, their daughter, Estella, brought the following poem home to her mother from school. Emma saved it all through the years.
I Thank Thee
For life and health and strength
I thank the Father kind.
I cannot count his mercies
O’er so many gifts I find.
The wee bird has its nest
Safe in the tree so tall.
For birdlings, nests,
For children, homes.
I thank the Lord for all.
Standing (left to right): Emma Dury, a niece of Emma De Keyser (but about the same age) and daughter of her older sister, Alice (De Keyser) Dury; Edmond De Keyser, Emma’s brother; and Charles Wilbur Aldrich, the proud groom. Note Emma Dury’s lovely organdy dress trimmed with an abundance of lace and ruffles. She wears a horseshoe pin at the neckline and several roses pinned to the yoke line. The men both have detachable high starched collars and bow ties with stems of roses and ferns just like the women. This must have been before the time when boutonnieres became popular for men.
Sitting: The bride, Emma De Keyser Aldrich sits in her graceful Gibson Girl style wedding gown with ruffled bodice and long, gathered sleeves. Her lovely rose and carnation bridal bouquet is tied with a delicate ribbon. She looks like a queen sitting on a throne.
Bert & Emma