Hopped on a Canoe

Hopped on A Canoe
My Third Great Grandparents
18 Feb 1817
Isaac Denison, Jr, and Levina Fish

The Day, 20 Aug 1999, page A1 and A5
"Keeping Mystic in its Natural State"

Would you ever think that your New England ancestors would get married in one home in one town and have a reception in another town and travel between the events in canoes in February? This seemed like an unlikely event to take place so I began to look for evidence that this actually took place. This 1999 newspaper article can be somewhat authenticated and even I am surprised. 

This wedding tale was found in the bride's newspaper funeral notice as located by Elsie Barstow and told again in a slide presentation, "The Fish families of early Mystic" by Warren Bourque, dated 17 May 1974.  Elsie lived in the house that belonged to Isaac and Levina at 6 Willow St. Mystic and was intrigued by Levina's long life.

It might be derivative evidence but it is all we've got since the bride (a long time widow) died in 1890. The wedding and reception are certainly not unlike ones today that are held in two locations and considered a "destination event."

For help with this "hopped on a canoe" tale this I enlisted the following people to help me: Dorothy Hanna, Mystic River Historical Society, 2 May 2018 and in the Mystic Press newspaper 24 and 29 July 1890 by Barbara Fallon and Nina Wright of the Westerly Public Library on 1 May 2018. No canoes were involved in the research.