I'm telling the wedding that never was and I've never told it before. Does anyone have any good information? I'd really appreciate any help. I'm telling it on Sunday the 19th. Thank you!!
I would assume you're referring to Dr Samuel Prescott.
You can start with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Prescott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Prescott) and maybe follow some information there.
Another good source will be "Paul Revere's Ride", by David Hackett Fischer.
Try PMing Norcal22Gal, she does a very moving version of it.
Agreeing with Nero,
also try Marrpat Pippi,...another emotional telling
I found this link on the interwebs: http://riflemanhistorian.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/the-wedding-portrait/ (http://riflemanhistorian.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/the-wedding-portrait/)
ShadowMan
Zazzles,
The following was posted by Evenstar in September of 2010 and would be a great starting point:
Project Appleseed >> Instructor Info >> History >> HELP NEEDED - The Wedding Portrait That Never Was
Posts: 747
What we do in life echoes in eternity...
Re: HELP NEEDED - The Wedding Portrait That Never Was
<< Reply #36 on: September 07, 2010, 01:01:27 PM >>QuoteWell... I told the story. I thought it went really well. I don't know if anyone cried, cause I was to busy blinking. I didn't tell it in first person, but with my sister's help, made some changes to the original notes. Here are the notes I went by if anyone is interested. Thanks to ALL for your help, tips, and notes.
The Wedding Portrait That Never Was
"Yesterday we heard about Dr. Samuel Prescott. About how he was returning home that April night from courting his fiancee. We heard how he ran into Revere and Dawes and agreed to help them alarm Concord. In fact, he was the only rider to get through to Concord.
"He had many plans for his future. He had a promising career as a doctor, and, in his near future, a wedding to his fiancee, Miss Lydia Mullikin. Because of the War, that wedding never took place.
"Let's fast-forward a few months and pretend that the war never happened. We are standing in the doorway to a church. Down the aisle, at the altar, we see a bride, her groom, her brother, his brother, and the minister who officiated.
"Now we must rewind, because the war did, in fact, take place.
"Lydia's brother, Nathanial, survived the skirmish on the Green, but died later of camp fever.
"Rev. William Emerson died of camp fever while with the Continental Army in 1776.
"Dr. Abel Prescott carried the alarm from Concord to Sudbury and Farmingham on April 19th. As he was returning, he was shot by the Regulars at the South Bridge outside of Concord. He died of those wounds in August. Think about it. For four months he lingered, before finally dying of those wounds.
"Dr. Samuel Prescott served in the militia, then joined the crew of a privateer. He was captured, dying in miserable conditions on a British prison ship.
"Lydia never heard of his fate. To her, he simply disappeared. She waited 8 years for him. Never hearing a word. When he didn't return, she married someone else.
"If all that wasn't enough - no wedding, groom dead, brother dead, minister dead - Lydia's house was one of the three houses burnt by Lord Percy that April day.
"I think that few of us truly understand the impact the war had on our founding generation.
"Here was a girl who lost her house, her husband-to-be, and her brother. Worse, she lost her future... All her plans and dreams, shattered by the war.
"Lydia also lost her security. When we are little girls, our dad is our security. We know he won't let anything happen to us. As we grow up, our brothers help keep watch over us when our father can't. And then, when we meet that special man, he becomes our protector and provider for the rest of our life. Lydia lost that. She lost her father before the war... her brother and husband-to-be, during the war.
"Every woman, especially once she's engaged, hopes for that unmistakable look on her fiance's face when he sees her in her wedding dress. But Lydia never got to see that look on Samuel's face."
"The Wedding Portrait That Never Was" is original to Appleseed - it was cobbed out of the several facts relating to different people appearing in the 4/19 story, an illustration of how to breathe life into history by combining the historical facts to heighten the reality of what we teach.
You'll find the original version as Reply #4 at http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=12646.msg104790#msg104790.
Like "What Was the Name of Martha Washington's Cat?", it is an original Appleseed story...
Thank you all!