"One day Warren, then about 7, asked her mother about her own wedding dress, and her mother said she had not had one. When Warren pressed for details, “she said no one came to her wedding at all."
That isn't true. Alyne Geren, a friend of Pauline's from school, possibly her best friend, attended the wedding. We know because she was a witness to the marriage.
Remember I explained in the post, "When is an elopement not an elopement":
"Who was this Alyne Geren who witnessed the marriage? Apparently she was a friend of Pauline Reed, Ms. Warren’s mother. According to the Ada Evening News; April 3, 1929; Alyne attended a debate where Pauline competed. Donald Herring, father of Ms. Warren, attended the same debate. Pauline’s sister, Maxine Masterson, lived in Ada, and there were often snippets in the society column about her, her family, and her visitors. Every high school student that attended the debate was not mentioned but Pauline, Donald and Alyne were. Since we already know Pauline and Donald later married and that Alyne was their witness, it is not a stretch to assume these three were good friends while in high school and that both Donald and Alyne attended the debate to watch Pauline."
In that previous post, I wrote about why I thought there was no elopement, but instead, just a Depression Era wedding. I still think that. I think Pauline made up a story to explain the reasons she didn't have a formal wedding and a fancy dress.
One thing is clear. Pauline lied when she said no one came to her wedding at all. And we all know, once someone is found to be a liar, then everything else they say about the same topic is suspect as well. Everything Warren has credited her mother with saying about their purported Cherokee ancestry has been suspect to me from the start. Now it should be suspect to you as well. We know Pauline apparently lied about one thing. What is to say she didn't lie about it all?
How do you sort through family lore to get to the truth? By doing just what I did here. Compare the story to the documents and evidence and see if it matches. This is only one example with this story. We will explore other examples later.
Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.
Clips from the society column about the debate.
copyright 2012, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB
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