I always got the impression that my grandmother, Grace Shepard, was something of a party girl when she was young. You’d never know it from the garden-loving, oil painting, and pie baking connoisseur she became later in life.
After graduating from high school in 1931, Grace got a job working at the local canning factory. Following a long day at work, she’d hang up her dirty overalls, throw on a flapper dress, and go out. She liked to dance. In fact, well into her 90s Grace turned heads with how well she could still do the Charleston. She also liked to go to the movies and had a thing for actor Ronald Coleman and his slick, black hair. She loved a man with slick, black hair. More on that later.
Grace had a couple of boyfriends as a young woman and always told the story of one, Eddie. One day Eddie tried to teach her to drive by making her steer his car all the way through the town of Menasha, Wisconsin. Grace was so terrified, she never tried to drive again!
The Party
Grace was angry with Eddie after the driving fiasco and broke it off. I guess she really didn’t like that car ride. Once again a free woman, she went to a party at the home of her friend Lief Johnson, near the village of Embarrass. (Yes, Embarrass, Wisconsin is a real place.)
There, a quiet young man playing cards caught her eye. The two of them wound up chatting for the rest of the evening. A couple of weeks later, she went to a dance and saw the same guy. She flirtatiously walked right up to him again and started talking. After all, he had slick, black hair just like Ronald Coleman. The young man was Elton Dilley from 10 miles up the road in Clintonville.
The Dress
I don’t know how long Grace and Elton dated, but in May of 1933, less than a year before the end of prohibition, Grace found herself “in a family way.” I’d imagine they were pretty distressed over what their parents would think and what they should do about the situation. But, Grace and Elton came to a decision. They would elope to Waupaca, Wisconsin, and get married in secret at the courthouse.
Grace didn’t have a dress to wear for the wedding (possibly because of a growing baby belly) and didn’t have any money to buy a new dress. Instead, she borrowed one from a friend. It was the depression and everyone was broke, so Grace had to take what she could get. She didn’t get to pick from a selection of extravagant ballroom gowns. Her dress wasn’t even white. It wasn’t even close to white. The dress was green and had big flowers all over it. Grace used to say she was glad they were too poor to have a wedding picture taken because she didn’t want anyone to see her in that “ugly” green dress!
The picture below isn’t of Grace. She would roll over in her grave if it turned out a picture existed of her in that dress. Rather, I’ve always imagined the dress looking something like this, but with big flowers.
The Elopement (Attempt)
Anyway, once Grace and Elton felt dressed up enough for a wedding, they traveled by car to Waupaca. The trip was 30 miles one way by the time Elton drove to New London to pick up Grace and her sister Arlene. You might think, “30 miles isn’t too far. They must have been there and back before anyone could blink an eye.” The problem? This was 1933. Cars were slower and the laws were different.
Elton’s friend, Bob Esmay, and Arlene agreed to be the couples’ witnesses. On the drive there, Grace was scared. She was even more scared when they got to Waupaca and received the bad news. In 1933 Wisconsin the legal age of consent was 21. Grace was 2 months short of her 21st birthday. That meant she couldn’t get married unless she got signed consent from a parent or legal guardian.
Grace must have been shaking in her shoes (and her green floral dress) as the group drove back to New London to tell my great-grandmother that her 20-year-old daughter was pregnant, needed to get married, and could she please sign this form giving permission? Yikes! I don’t know how my great-grandmother reacted to the news. But, she signed the form, and Grace and Elton drove back to Waupaca with their witnesses to get married.
The Aftermath
After the marriage was complete and the wedding certificate signed, Elton drove Grace back to New London, dropped her off at her parents’ house, then drove back home to Clintonville. Hmm, not sure what he was thinking there. Maybe the fact that he now had a wife hadn’t quite hit him, or maybe he was so afraid to tell his parents that he didn’t want his new bride around quite yet.
Whatever the case, Elton did tackle the daunting task of telling his parents. His mother’s first question was “Well, where is she?” Upon finding out that Elton had taken Grace home to New London, my other great-grandmother read Elton the riot act. In fact, she made him drive back to New London to get her. After all, they were married, they should be together! What a long day of driving…
Elton’s parents let the new couple move into an upper flat in their house. Grace and Elton were dirt poor and still expected to pay their way. But, at least they had a place to live and a good parenting resource downstairs when that baby was born. That’s another story.
Growing up, my grandma Grace never tried to hide the fact that she got pregnant before marriage or why she and my grandpa Elton had to get married. She was open and honest about it, and I always respected her for that. It made my grandparents seem a little less perfect and a little more human.
Portions of this story were taken from the self-publication Ninety Years of Memories: Selections from Grace Dilley’s Photo Albums by Jerry and Ruth Dilley. This collection was put together especially for Grace’s 90th birthday in 2002.
Image credit: Family photos from the files of Gerald and Ruth Dilley.
