A new friend of Buller Time blog and a member of our extended family, Carolyn (Peters) Stucky, recently shared several treasures from our family’s history, including letters from nearly a hundred years ago, a transcription of remarks that Henry Buller delivered at a 1990 Buller reunion, and the item pictured below.
Viewed from the outside, there is little remarkable or even noteworthy about this simple envelope. Indeed, it does not even indicate who sent it or its intended recipient. The contents of the envelope are an altogether different matter.
One does not need to be able to read German to recognize the names Malinda, Cornelius P. Buller (with a period), and Mr. and Mrs Isaac Franz. The date offers an additional clue: January 20, 1927. This is, of course, an original invitation to Grandma and Grandpa’s wedding.
The invitation in German and English reads:
Zur Hochzeit unserer Tochter Malinda mit ihrem Braeutigam Cornelius P. Buller laden wir sie sammt Familie zu um half Zwei Uhr nachmittags des Tages, Donnerstag Januar 20, 1927 herzlich ein; um mit uns den Stifter der heiligen Ehe fuer sie um seinen Segen zu bitten.
To the wedding of our daughter Malinda with her groom Cornelius P Buller, we cordially invite you with your family at half past two in the afternoon, Thursday, 20 January 1927, in order with us to ask the Originator of holy matrimony for his blessing on them.
Curiously, although the exact time and day are specified, the location of the ceremony is not mentioned. The GRANDMA database reports that the Bethesda Mennonite Church record book (1878–1948, book 1) lists both Grandma and Grandpa being baptized on 24 May 1926, so a little more than half a year before their wedding. One might imagine, then, that the ceremony also took place at Bethesda, although that is by no means certain. I invite any blog reader with different or additional details about the wedding to share that information with us all.
Holding the invitation in my hand a few minutes ago, I was reminded of the vital importance of artifacts. Stories are, to be sure, important building blocks in the construction of our collective family memory, but the artifacts of our history—the clocks, trunks, wheat weavings, shotguns, articles of clothing, and even letters and diaries—connect us in a more direct and tangible way with those who came before us. I write this as a reminder to myself and everyone else to preserve not only our ancestors’ artifacts but also our own, so that those who come after us will likewise enjoy a connection to their forebears, including all of us.
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