Laura Marcotte Hamende & 1907 Wedding in L'Erable

Transcription by Norma Meier of an oral interview with Laura Marcotte Hamende, March 5, 1981 (Laura Marcotte Hamende, 1887-1982). 

Reflections from her wedding day. 

“It was on a Wednesday. It was the 17th of April, 1907. Oh yes, we had Mass – High Mass. Oh yes, there was a lot of people there. A wedding used to be on a Wednesday all the time.

Then they switched it off to Saturday. We thought it was terrible to have it on Saturday, but now it’s all Saturday.

We had a dance, the hall is still there in L’Erable.

I can tell you I wore a white knit dress. It had a blue silk lining. I had a cousin that made it for me. Of course, then we didn’t buy nothing made already. It was long, touched the floor. I had a veil. We got married in L’Erable at ten o’clock, and then we came to my mother’s for dinner.

And all I had was a wedding ring. I never had no engagement ring.”

Laura married Arthur Hamende (1885-1955) at the L’Erable Catholic Church. Both are buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Kankakee. 

Interior and exterior images from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in L’Erable, Illinois (photos from the archives of the Kankakee County Museum).