George Jenkins Bliss to Amanda Preston
"Another post-nuptial concert held on the Prairie following the wedding of the late George J. Bliss and Amanda Preston. All my Carroll county uncles were there, I believe, and all my boy cousins old enough to "holler" good and strong, or play a "devil's tattoo: on "any old thing" made of tin. Uncle Stephen Kneale blew his clarionet vehemently; Uncle Sumner Downing fired off his rifle repeatedly; the tin horn used by Father would, I think, have made a fair showing at the siege of Jericho; while I speedily put Mother's only wash boiler out of commission. But all of us, even the victims, enjoyed it, although on my part the aftermath included a reimbursement on boiler account."
Contributed by Alice Horner
I found this clipping, which I'm fairly certain was written by Ellen Eliza Preston Downing, my great grandmother, who was a daughter of Samuel Preston, and wrote occasional historical newspaper columns in the Mt Carroll paper. There is no date, but it must have been after 1908, because it refers to the groom as "the late George J. Bliss" and he died July 23, 1908. His full name was George Jenkins Bliss, and he was a son of Lewis Bliss (1806-aft. 1893) and Eliza Unknown (abt. 1810 - bef. 1861). George Jenkins Bliss married Climanda Preston, known as Amanda Preston, who was a sister to the Samuel Preston born in 1818 who was Ellen Eliza Preston Downing's father (and who lived in the old grout house by the pond). They married 26 Nov 1851; the date of the post nuptial concert may have been the same date. The "Prairie" referred to in the account is Preston Prairie, Mt. Carroll Township. I've copied original spellings.
