THE AMNESIAC BRIDE - A Swainsboro woman set what was thought to be a world record for going from the grave to the altar. On Tuesday, January 30, 1906, J.J. Sewell, one of the most hardworking and honest men in that section of the state, died of tuberculosis leaving his entire estate to his widow Alice. Mr. Sewell was buried on Wednesday. His wife was present, dressed in proper attire and showing the usual emotional distress at the death of her dear departed husband. Also at the funeral was one Robert McDaniel, who had professed his love for the widow before Sewell’s demise. McDaniel accompanied the bereaved woman as she left the cemetery. On Thursday, the couple appeared went to Ordinary Court Judge Yeoman’s office and obtained a marriage license. The anxious couple quickly traveled to the home of Judge John Sutton, where they were instantly married and set off on their honeymoon. When questioned as to the timeliness of their marriage, Mrs. McDaniel said that she needed someone to comfort her and knew McDaniel had loved her a long time. The editors of the Swainsboro Forest Blade took an opposite stance, when they wrote, “ peace to the ashes of Mr. Sewell. He is better off in his grave than hitched up with such a woman as this and hounded by a man who would marry her.”
Washington Post, February 5, 1906. p. 1, Swainsboro Forest Blade, February 1, 1906.
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