1928 WEDDING CHRISTENS NEW OWNERS’ NEW BRIDAL ALTAR

The first wedding underground in Howe’s Cave may have taken place as early as 1852, as noted in my book, Underground Empires.  The Howe children—Huldah, Harriet, and Halsey—were all married in the cave around that time, and weddings undoubtedly continued on a sporadic basis right up until about 1900, when the cave’s owners at the time discouraged the day-long tours.

Howe Caverns, Inc. was formed in 1927 and developed the back half of the cave as a tourist destination with an elevator entrance, electric lights, brick baths and handrails.  The bridal chamber opened by the Howes was near the cave’s old entrance and not owned by the caverns’ corporation, so the new cave owners went about creating their own, naming it the “Bridal Altar.”

Howe Caverns’ Bridal Altar – an artist’s rendition from a 1950s brochure.

This new Bridal Altar’s key feature is a heart of pure white, translucent calcite illuminated from below, and intended for couples to stand on while taking their vows.

The first wedding in the new Howe Caverns took place before the cave was open to the public in 1929.  The story, written for the press by the corporation’s boastfully eloquent publicist, follows. Here it is still referred to as the “bridal chamber,” not altar.

From The Cobleskill Index, Thursday, May 24, 1928

Bridal Chamber in Howe Cavern Again Scene of Wedding Ceremony

The marriage of Roger Henry Mallery of Owego, N.Y., to Margaret May Provost of Howes Cave, was solemnized in the Bridal Chamber of Howe Caverns on Thursday night. May 10th, 1928, at 11:30 o’clock.

The beautiful ring service was performed i by the Rev. Fred M. Hagadorn, pastor of the Cobleskill Methodist Church, in the presence of Mrs. Louise Provost, mother of ‘the bride; Francis Provost, brother of the bride, and John J. Sagendorf. of Howes Cave.

It was one of the most unique romantic weddings which has ever taken place in this section of the state.

Deep within the silent vaults of this second largest cavern in the world; far beyond all sound of the familiar world above: where the mighty grandeur of the World’s Supreme Architect dwindles the efforts of man into insignificance: here where He first saw the pattern of nave and groined ceiling; there the column, pedestal and capital were reared countless ages e’er man came to be; here where earth’s mightiest Cathedral—in contrast grows small, the clergyman’s voice broke the awful silence as he spoke the marriage ritual.

A picturesque view from the Bridal altar, looking into Titan’s Temple

The bridal party stood in the great balcony of Titan’s mighty Temple. Before them was the exquisitely beautiful “Lake of the Fairies” where stalactite formations are inverted in perfect reflections.  Just at the left of the groom was the “Fountain of Somnus” glowing in its sleep. Back of them stretched the vast reaches of the Temple of this giant of the gods of mythology whose unbroken ceiling is probably the largest in existence. Here, great masses of calcite crystallization witnessed for the first time the sparkle of the queen of their kind as the nuptial ring glistened when placed on the finger of the bride.  All of the lesser crystals must have blushed at the presence of their perfected sisterhood of gems, shining forth from the tremulous finger of she who was promising.

Vows plighted and promises made in the presence of such might and majesty; witnessed thus by symbols of eternity, cannot be broken or forgotten.

The bride who has spent her life near the great cavern is a graduate of Cobleskill High school, class of 1922, followed by a post-graduate course in the same school. Graduated from the New York State College for Teachers at Albany in 1927. specializing in French and English.

During the past year she has been a student in The American Academy of Dramatic Art, Carnegie Hall building in New York, the oldest institution of its kind in America. Later she specialized in dramatic art under the special instruction of Helen B. Carey. She also studied piano under J. Austin Springer.

Roger Henry Mallery is a member of Signi Pi Fraternity of Cornell University and is a civil engineer of marked ability. Among the great engineering feats of his career has been the re-conditioning of Howe Caverns.

The bridal couple spent their honeymoon in Albany, Philadelphia, Atlantic City.

Immediately upon their return, Mr. Mallery received the contract for the construction of the bridge at Schoharie, to replace the one which collapsed a few weeks ago.

The bride was the recipient of many valuable gifts while the groom was remembered by the employees of the cavern with a service of solid silver.

Their wedding was of outstanding interest and the prospects of a long, happy, and useful life stretch out before them through the vistas of the coming years.

Chauncey Rickard

CARVED HEART OF CALCITE MARKS THE SPOT

On page 84 of Underground Empires is the version which ran in The Cobleskill Times, a competitor to the newspaper who carried the above. I’m sure the editor thought “I’m not running this gibberish” when Chauncey handed him his account of the wedding.

Also, it sounds as if Mallery’s no longer works at the cave, although construction underground continued, often in two shifts, for all of 1928 and early 1929.

The Mallery descendants say that Roger, Sr. was responsible for carving the calcite heart in the new Bridal Altar, as a symbol of his love for his young bride. Tour guides at Secret Caverns say the sizeable chunk of calcite for the heart was broken from a formation at their cave, known as ‘frozen Niagara.” That seems unlikely, as Mallery, Sr. was making plans to show Secret Caverns to the public around that same time.

For more information/recommended reading: UNDERGROUND EMPIRES: Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure & enterprise in NY’s Cave Country

One thought on “1928 WEDDING CHRISTENS NEW OWNERS’ NEW BRIDAL ALTAR

  1. Bob Addis

    Chauncey Richard who gave the above description of the 1928 wedding at the new Bridal Alter, was an interesting character to say the least. In Dana Cudmore’s book, Underground Empires, pages 94-96 and 154-156 he captured Chauncey’s “flowery essays”, “loquacious tidbits”, and that “he even wrote poetry on behalf of his employer”. That poem was used extensively in the early Howe Caverns advertising.

    Reflecting on nearly 100 years of Howe Caverns employees, I could say many were ” interesting characters”!

    Reply

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