We were married at the First Congregational Church in Holden, Massachusetts on this day, July 2nd, many years ago. For a long, long time I thought that we were the first family members to be married this far west in central Massachusetts. Then I found some interesting family history!
On 27 February 1787, my 5th great grandparents, Stephen Cree and Hannah Smith, were married in Holden, too. Hannah was born in Worcester on 22 May 1763, the daughter of Joseph Smith. Stephen Cree was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts on 30 October 1760. There is no evidence that they lived in Holden, and all five of their children were born in Topsfield, where Stephen and Hannah both died and were buried. In 1797 Holden was a new town in central Massachusetts, broken off from North Worcester in 1741.
In 1968 my family moved to Holden from Beverly, Massachusetts. We joined the First Congregational Church. My parents were very active members and joined many committees at this church. My mother still volunteers in the thrift shop. I had my confirmation and wedding here, my nephew was baptized at this church, and my father had his funeral there.
I'm still wondering what brought my 5th great grandfather 70 miles from Topsfield to Holden to find his bride in 1787. I'm glad he did, or I wouldn't be telling you this tale! Vincent traveled 1,600 miles from Puerto Rico to Holden to marry me. You can see us standing in the rain, in the photo above, taken nearly 40 years go, in Holden.
For the truly curious:
First Congregational Church, Holden, Massachusetts: https://www.fccholden.org/
A blog post written on our 35th anniversary, about our wedding day:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/07/thirty-five-years-ago-today.html
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To Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Two Weddings in Holden, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 2, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/07/two-weddings-in-holden-massachusetts.html: accessed [access date]).
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