The Mystery of a 1913 Wedding Photo

I am always searching various auctions for Tuscarawas County related material and recently I discovered this photo-postcard for sale on eBay. It piqued my interest and I thought I would share what I learned about the story behind this photograph.

Frederick Alexander (1850-1911) immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1865 and made his way west, working for a time as a clerk in the store of a merchant in Huntington, Indiana. He married Ernestine (Araestine) Wolfe (1856-1914) in 1879 during a return visit to Germany to visit his family. The couple eventually arrived in New Philadelphia, via Pennsylvania, in 1885. Frederick opened a successful store on the southeast corner of the courthouse square, eventually building the three story “Alexander Block” in 1900. Among his five children was a daughter named Anna Eva Alexander (1887-1947).

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, William F. Beyer (1851-1935) was pursuing his education at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia to become a doctor. After completing his studies he established his practice in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in 1879 and, a year later, married a local woman named Margaret Mitchell (1858-1910). The couple established their household on the 200 block of West Mahoning Street where they raised their three children, including a son named Samuel Meigs Beyer (1881-1964).

Anna and her siblings grew up in their parents’ home, originally on West Ray Street, and then after 1908 in their home on North Broadway. The Alexander children all attended school in New Philadelphia and Anna graduated from New Philadelphia High School in 1905. She spent the following two years attending Cleveland Women’s College before returning home to New Philadelphia. Following her return, she hosted many gatherings of friends at her parents’ home on North Broadway.

Samuel, who went by his middle name Meigs, attended school in his hometown of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania before going on to attend Allegheny College. There he excelled in both academics and athletics and then subsequently enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. After graduating in 1908, he returned to Punxsutawney and began practicing medicine there. Somehow one of his friends, also a doctor, met a young lady who was a friend of Anna’s from New Philadelphia and the couple married in that city in 1912.

The wedding of Anna’s friend to Meigs’ friend took place in November 1912 at the Lutheran Church. Anna was the maid of honor and Meigs the best man. It is likely at this wedding that Anna and Meigs first met and, less than a year later, they were married at the Alexander House on North Broadway. The couple toured the east coast for their honeymoon before settling down in Meigs’ hometown of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Anna continued her practice at her home on West Mahoning Street in Punxsutawney of opening it to friends and groups for social functions. Meanwhile Meigs’ medical practice continued its success, drawing patients from all around the county. The couple welcomed a son in 1919, their only child, who also went on to become a doctor. After thirty four years of marriage Anna died suddenly in February 1947 at the age of 59, the result of a coronary thrombosis. Meigs outlived Anna by seventeen years. He died of a heart attack while attending an American Medical Association meeting in San Francisco, California in June 1964. The couple are buried at Circle Hill Cemetery in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

© Noel B. Poirier, 2024.