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MARY ANN PAUL - WEDDING NO. SIX
"OOMPH"
AT 78 Pictou County Indian Woman Marries For 6th Time:
Kentville-Jan.7- Sixty five years after she wedded for the first time at the age of thirteen, MRS. MARY ANN BRADFORD, 78, a great grandmother, residing on the Cambridge Indian Reservation, near here, was today united in marriage for the sixth time.
The bridegroom is 68 year old JAMES WOODS, formerly of Saint John, but for the last 14 years a member of the Cambridge colony. It was his third marriage. Neither the bride, born in Pictou, nor the groom have any divorces in their history. Mrs. Woods first three marriages took place in Prince Edward Island. The fourth in Moncton, N.B.
The wedding was celebrated at 8:30 Mass this morning in the new Catholic Church on the reservation. Rev. J.W. Brown, parish priest of St. Joseph's Church, Kentville, officiating.
Indians from many sections of the province and several from New Brunswick were present for the occasion. Following the ceremony the guests gathered at the home of the bride, and late this afternoon a dance ,which is expected to continue for several hours got under way, the bride and groom leading the opening march.
Complacently puffing her pipe, she declined to have her wedding picture taken with it- while her new debonair husband smoked a cigarette, the bride gave a brief resume of her marriage life which covers all but five Autumns since 1877. That span of years occurred in between her widow hoods.
Bright and active, the new Mrs. Woods, whose immediate previous husband was the late Chief DOMINICK BRADFORD, is recognized as the champion basket weaver of the Indian Reservation. She personally sells her products in Kentville, Berwick and other nearby communities. Ever since the inauguration of the Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival nine years ago, she has been a prominent figure in the annual parade.
The smiling bride, undeniably proud of her new husband, emphatically asserted that married life is the "only" life if one is to be really happy. "Of course", she added with a chuckle, "smoking is also a great comfort".
Mrs. Woods, however, is very much opposed to very early marriages. Thirteen, the age when she was first wed, is much too young. About 20 is the proper time for a girl to pick a husband, in her opinion.
The former MARY ANN PAUL of Pictou she was three times married before 20th birthday. When thirteen she became the bride of STEPHEN MICHAEL. At 18 she was wedded to EDWARD BERNARD, and two years later, TOM NAPEAU was her husband. These three Indians and GREGORY PETERS, who followed were all members of the Lennox Island Reserve, P.E.I. Her marriage to the late Chief Dominick Bradford took place in her 62nd year. Mrs. Woods has only one living child, MRS. JOHN COPAGE, Cambridge, only surviving child of 13 born to Mrs. Woods. Mr. Wood has no descendants, but the bride has ten great grandchildren and eight grandchildren, the latter being, RUFUS, PETER and JOSEPH COPAGE; MRS., BERNARD TONEY, MRS. TOM TONEY; and KATE, HILDA and LEONA COPAGE, all of Cambridge.