Isaac J. Foster and Laura Elizabeth Armstrong Wedding Announcement

We were delighted to find the other day this one hundred and fifteen year old wedding announcement, noting my grandparents' nuptials.

Pembina Pioneer Express, June 6, 1890

Foster – Armstrong – At the residence of the bride’s sister, Mrs. R. D. Hoskins, by Rev. John Scott, of Walhalla, on Thursday evening, May 28th, 1890, Isaac J. Foster to Miss L. Elizabeth Armstrong, both of Bathgate, N. D.

The bride and groom are so well known to our citizens that to say that they have the well wishes of all, is unnecessary, as neither of them have an enemy who would wish them ill. The wedding was a quiet one, owing to the illness of the bride’s mother, Mrs. J. A. Armstrong, but a very pleasant one to those in attendance. May they enjoy a long life and prosperity, is the wish of all. They have gone housekeeping in the R. D. Hoskins house, which Ike has bought. – Bathgate Democrat. 

My aunt Laura Albina Foster was born later that year, which would seem to explain the timing of the wedding and pressing ahead despite my great grandmother's illness. Ten more children would be born to the union, including my father, George W. Foster, the eleventh and final in the brood.

It will be recalled that the Hoskins had moved on to Bismarck early that year, where R. D. Hoskins had been named the first clerk of the state supreme court on North Dakota's attaining statehood.

The Pembina Pioneer Express had gone on line this last year after we had written a series of posts on Ike Foster. We look forward to using the newspaper as an especially valuable resource when we write going forward. 

The Pioneer Express was the newspaper of record for Pembina county and reported on many of Ike Foster's doings in the then county seat, whether they involved his tenure as country sheriff, his raising of crops or involvement in animal husbandry, his land sales business or his incredibly active auction business. The latter three topics we have yet to write on.

The Express fills important gaps from the fifteen year period when editions of the local Bathgate paper are missing from the North Dakota State Historical Society archives. Perhaps more importantly, the editor of the Express had a sense of humor and an editorial eye for Ike's style and personality that make him come to life in ways that are only hinted at in other sources we have come across. This should be fun.