GOES ON VACATION RETURNS A BRIDE
RUTH BUTTON AND GORDON HYDE ARE WED IN TRAVERSE CITY

When Miss Ruth Button went north for her vacation her friends did not know she went to her own wedding. But that is so. The girl has returned a bride. Here is the way it happened:

The home of Mr & Mrs James R Button, of Traverse City was the scene of a quiet wedding August 30, when their niece, Miss Ruth J Button married Gordon Hutson Hyde of Big Rapids. The ceremony was performed at 8:30 o'clock by the Rev W E Birdsall of Williamsburg, Michigan.

The bride was attired in a gown of hand-embroidered white satin, with a veil of silk illusion gathered into a crown of point lace and insel. She carried a show bouquet of white and lavender larkspur and pink snapdragon with baby's breath. Her maid-of-honor, Miss Clela Hyde, sister of the bridegroom, wore white organdie and carried pink dahlias and venias. The bridesmaid Miss Pearl Birdsall, was dressed in lavender and her flowers were the same as Miss Hyde's. Miss Birdsall played the bridal march before taking her own place in the group. Clayton R Hyde, brother of the bridegroom was best man and Clarence W Button, a cousin of the bride, was another attendant.

Refreshments were served at the close of the ceremony. Covers were laid for the following, outside the bridal party; and Mrs Ray Button and Miss Flossie Linkletter, uncle, aunt and cousin of the bride; Mrs Royal E Hyde of Big Rapids, and the host and hostess.

The bride was a high school girl at Frankfort, taking county normal afterward at Traverse City and later attending Ferris Institute after she had taught. Mr Hyde was formerly of Morley. He travels for a publishing house and his being "on the road" is one reason his wife will remain in her position at Big Rapids for the present.

"BUTTON-HYDE NUPTIALS
"The home of James R. Button, 1044 Webster street, was the scene of a quiet wedding Saturday evening, August 30, when their niece, Ruth J. Button was united in marriage to Gordon Hutson Hyde of Big Rapids, Rev. W.E. Birdsall of Williamsburg officiating. The bride was attired in a gown of hand embroidered white satin with veil of silk illusion gathered into a crown of beaded point lace and carried a shower bouquet of white and lavendar larkspun and pink snap dragons with baby's breath. The wedding march was played by Miss Pearl Birdsall of Williamsburg. The bridal couple was attended by Miss Clela Hyde, sister of the groom, Miss Pearl Birdsall, Clayton Hyde, brother of the groom and Clarence Button, cousin of the bride. After the ceremony ice cream and cake were served. Out of town guests were: Mrs. Royal E. Hyde, Clayton Hyde and Miss Cleda [sic] Hyde of Big Rapids and Miss Flossie Linkletter of Flint. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde will reside in Big Rapids.

"...IN A CELEBRATION
"A most enjoyable Thanksgiving day was spent at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Godon H. Hyde, 118 Oak street. The occasion marked a family reunion, a birthday celebration and a wedding anniversary. Mrs. Hyde was the hostess.

"Mrs. Charles Hutson, 121 Sanborn avenue, was the guest of honor. The beloved grandma has reached her seventy-fifth birthday, and the day was also her fifty-third wedding anniversary.

"Mr. Hyde's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Royal Hyde, his brother and sister Clela and Clayton Hyde, who live at 1212 Sanborn avenue, were there. Then there were Mrs. Hyde's home folk. Her mother, Mrs. W.L. Jenne of Kansas City, Mo., came, so did Mr. and Mrs. Ray A. Button and son Clarence and James R. Button of Traverse City, uncles, aunt and cousins of Mrs. Hyde. Two friends were asked, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer W. Zeiter of this city, who live at 124 Sanborn avenue.

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Following what was probably one of her last long letters to her mother, Winifred:

"Big Rapids, Michigan
May 10, 1926

"Dearest Mamma:

Dear me, I have so many things to tell you that if I had a air plane, I would just fly over and spend the day with you and tell them by hand. I thought I would get at writing you this long letter Saturday, but I wanted to have plenty of time when I did, and there was no sich [sic] Saturday, so I have just left it until this morning and then I can tell you about what I did yesterday.[:CR:] "I guess first I better begin way back with last Sunday and tell you what will be the longest paragraph first and then tell other things afterwards. About noon last Sunday Gordon was going out after a lady just at the city limits south of town, was just off the pavement, and just about to turn the corner to go on another street when the front wheel on his taxi broke and sent him over into the ditch and into a telephone pole. As it happened, he only got three cuts on his hands, not another scratch on his face or anywhere else. the car was a sight. Usually, you know, when the wheel goes wrong, it is very apt to turn the car over first thing, much more so than when it is the hind wheel. And if he had not hit the pole, probably his car would not have been hit so hard but the chances are that he would have been hurt much worse. Well, the Irishman, Claude came down and of course blamed it all on Gordon and shot off his mouth considerable. Gordon didn't say anything and of course it being Sunday they could not do anything. So we took Gordon over to Mothers and I washed him up and he went to sleep and slept almost all the rest of the day. Monday he and Roy (the young fellow who had been driving for them) talked it all over and decided that if they could make Claude get out of the business that they would, and go into it together without him. So Monday Gordon went down and told Claude just what he would do and gave him his choice. He told Claude that he would either buy or sell but that he would have to do «u»one«u0». So instead of Gordon buying Claude out, Claude wouldn't sell, so Gordon sold out to him. So he is out of the taxi business for the present anyway. We found out a few weeks ago that Claude was doing several things which were not right and Gordon saw that he was going to either going to have to get out himself or else make Claude get out soon and as this accident happened and it was just the first of the month, he thought it would be as good a time as any to tell Claude what he would have to do. Claude got to getting moonshine from some source and almost all the last week he was about half drunk. That Sunday when he came down there and talked so to Gordon when he was hurt, Gordon told me afterwards that he was Claude had been drinking then. And then Claude has always handled the money part of it himself has always carried the check book in his pocket and Gordon never even saw it but once all the time they were in there. Gordon didn't suspect him of any wrong till they came to settle up at the end of the month and they were several dollars short and Gordon didn't know where it had gone to, only he did know one thing, and that was that he hadn't had enough to hurt him. What little money he did have he had to go and ask for and that didn't set just good. If it had only been anyone but Claude, he would have tried to stay in longer, because he like the work and I am sure he could have done well at it and he seemed to stand it as well as anything he has done and much better than some kinds of work. But if that moonshine business was going to get started in it, he didn't want to have anything more to do with it for he has never drank and doesn't care to be mixed up with it. His name would be linked in with it whether he was innocent or not. So I am both glad and sorry he is out of it, glad because I didn't think much of that Irishman's performances and am glad to have him away from him, and sorry because he had to give up his business when I am sure he could make a success of it if he had the right person to work with. I am sure he could have done well with Roy. But he worked just as hard as he could all the time he was in there and then didn't have anything to show for it and that gets kind of discouraging after a short while. Now, what money he earns he will have anyway and need not be afraid of someone else running off and spending it for moonshine.

"He has a chance to work either for the Standard Oil Co. or the other oil co the Peerless, but doesn't know yet which work he will take. They are not quite ready yet. If he takes the Standard Oil Co. work he will be working with and for Ransom Stoneburner and I think that is the job he wants if he can wait for it. But we will know in a few days.

"I think he is feeling pretty good now, although for a few days he was pretty well shaken up and his stomach hurt and he didn't want much to eat. As he struck the pole the wind shield broke and fell right into his lap so that is the way his hands got cut and his clothes were just full of ground glass. Roy was the one who found him and took him to the doctor and took me out to where they were and all. And when Claude came out he swore and tore around and blamed Gordon for the whole thing and said they could do whatever they pleased, but he was «u»through«u0» and Gordon could get fixed up the best way he could. And went off and left him. Of course if they had gone on, Claude would have found out that he would have to share the expense of it anyway, but they didn't so now Claude can get along the best he can. Roy is still working with him but don't know how long they will get along either.

"Had a letter from Dolly last week and she is coming to Big Rapids after all. Will be here the 23rd and will of course room with us. I am glad she is coming for we had such good times last summer. I am not going to try to board her, as I really cant at noon, and anyway I don't want to feel that I have to get meals at any particular time every day. If I wasn't here at the office, i would take a few boarders, but as long as I have this place at the office I am not going to board anybody. As i told Dolly, Gordon and I eat whatever and whenever and wherever we please. If we want to eat down town, we do and if we want to go over to Mother's we do that. So I think we will keep on the same way and Dolly can board next door at Mrs. Talkemitt's same as the rest of the girls have.[:CR:] "Our family of girls has kept going one by one until now we only have four. It seems kind of a rest because the ones we have left now are not so fellow crazy and so it is really quite a relief for a few weeks until the next term begins, the 24th. A week ago Saturday three of the girls left and went over to Stoneburners. They gave as an excuse that the rooms were cheaper, but I knew that was not the real reason and found out afterwards that the reason they went was because someone told them that over at Stoneburner's they didn't have to keep any of the Institute rules and could sit up all hours of night if they wanted to. And that is one thing I have tried to do, is to keep the school rules and at the same time have tried to be just as nice to the girls as could be. But if that is what they come to school for, just to fool around, why that is their look out.

"The rest of the girls say that they are awfully sorry now that they moved, because everyone tried to tel them that they were not using me right to leave me at this time of year. But of course it didn't do any good. But anyway it gives me a chance to clean the rooms for summer and we may do the cleaning sometime this week. I went Saturday to see about getting a woman to clean and she wanted 40¢ an hour so I said to Gordon this morning that if it was going to be a few days before he could go to work that we would do it ourselves. I would so much rather have him help me than anyone else I know of, and certainly much rather than have some strange woman come in the house and a lot of the things she couldn't do anyway, and Gordon is just as good to do things around the house like that as a woman anyway. I won't be afraid to ask him to do things that I want done like I would someone I didn't know very well. So when he finds out what he is going to do, we will go at it ourselves.

"Yesterday we had a very nice Mother's Day services at the church. I went in the morning and stayed to Sunday School and went again in the evening. In the evening one of the songs the choir sang was about some boy recalling memories of home and remembering his mother sing "My Jesus, I Love Thee" Each verse ended up with just the last strain of the hymn. And I was up in the gallery alone and the choir down below would sing the verses till they came to that part and I sang alone from up in the gallery - "My Jesus, I love Thee; I know Thou art Mine.", etc. They said it sounded real pretty.

"Dr. Yeo was in Paris the last Mrs. Yeo heard from him. It takes so long for letters to get back and forth that he may have gone somewhere else by now. The last Mrs. Yeo heard from him last week, he had not heard from her at all yet, and she has written nearly every day since he left, so when he does get them, he will have a big bunch of them.[:CR:] "I was so sorry to hear Mr. Birdsall got hurt. Surely hope it will not do him much permanent harm, but he is pretty well along in years to stand many hard knocks like that without doing him up pretty well.

"Am also sorry to hear about Uncle Allen. Presume he will never feel very well again. I suppose his sickness is a good deal like Aunt Edie's isn't it? Suppose Vera is all unsettled now as to what to do.

"Mentioning Aunt Edie's name make me think, I sent Aunt Cora a card for Mother's Day too and told her that I guessed I had several mother spots in my heart, beside the one for my own dear Mamma. There was Aunt Edie, Aunt Cora and Grandma. And I said that now Aunt Edie and Grandma were gone, but we still had her and I wanted to send her a card, too. And then too, I told her that we knew if Emma could be here, in person, she would want to be doing something for her Mamma, so I was sending her one for Emma's sake, too. I think she will be glad, don't you? I have always thought since Emma went away that Uncle Ray's folks have sort of felt nearer to me and it has made me feel very tender towards them too, many times.

"Am having quite some picnic with my tats [cats]. Their mother is so young that she doesn't set a very elaborate dining table, so when it comes to serving four babies three to nine times a day, it keeps her larder at quite a low ebb most of the time. Consequently, in the frequent scraping of the plates to get the last bite, said plates become more or less thin skinned, ye see. So I have taken it upon myself to supplement their diet with warm dairy milk administered with an eye dropper. You should see the poor little starved things ear. They will almost eat by themselves. In just a few days they will, I am sure. And they are growing nice now. They will get to howling enough to take our heads off and Gordon will threaten to take them out and chop their heads off and then I will heat some water on the stone and put it in the hot water bottle and give them all two or three swigs of warm milk and put the hot water bottle in their basket and that will be the last sound we will hear out of them all night. So with the exception of one or two little thins (!*?) I advertise to take care of kittens just as well as their mother can. Ahem!

"Suppose Aunt Cora's birthday is day after tomorrow. I must get something off to her tomorrow.

"Yes, I certainly think it is a crime about the way things are at Flint. As you say, one could overlook the fact that she cannot see, some better if it had been any different situation when she could see. And in that nice new house, too, or new anyway.

"I hope Lottie has better luck this time, too, if such is the case. If her other baby was prematurely borne, tho she ought to be warned to be all the more careful this time, this time, I would think. I think I can see where I would have been by now if it hadn't been for my working so hard when our first Albion College Glee Club concert was here. But I am just as well suited for now, I am sure. [Is Ruth saying that she had also previously lost a child or had a miscarriage?]

[The previous part of the letter was typed. Here starts handwriting:]

"Think I'll post this so it will go down on the 2:30 p.m. train. Am sending some snaps we took the Sunday Uncle Jim was here. It was such a dark cloudy day we didn't think any of them would be any good. But some of them are good. We laughed & said Mickey figured in them better than any of us.

"You may keep the two group pictures with Uncle Jim & I in them & if you want one of the other four I'll send you some. Only had one of each of them printed so far, but wanted you to see them anyway. I know you would want one of those two. I sent some to Uncle Jim & Uncle Ray's folks when I sent Aunt Cora's Mother's Day card.

"(This is all written Monday, all the same day for a wonder. Where the ink begins is p.m. & the rest is a.m. however). Drove Dr. B's car home to lunch. About noon Gordon came to the office & said he has been working on the trucks again for Mr. Dunn, the man he worked for last fall. Oil men aren't ready yet, so he got his old job back nearly the first thing this morning.

"Yes, I had to smile about Frank's and Lena's latest ventures. I imagined the Detroit stuff would last about that long. Wonder if she is in the same boat as Lottie "going home to Ma'?!

"Yes, if Violet comes they will use the bedroom we were in when you were here. They can have the outside door & the porch then.

"Little oven works fine. We are much better satisfied to use all gas. We have the piano on the side of the front room next the dining room. (It is the south side, but I knew that wouldn't have any particular meaning to you!? Haw!) Mrs. Murrays organ is still there. Presume she will take it sometime this summer, but it is not in the way at all. Whenever it is not best for your organ to be at Grandpa Thompson's any more, I shall be glad to have it with me. For I have always loved that organ & I don't care very much for Mrs. M's. Much as I like a piano, I would never want to grow tired of an organ & I never will. Poor Uncle Jim doesn't know what to do with their organ. He hates to sell it. And yet he knows it is really not much good any more. Have started in on something I could write much longer about so better leave it. Write more on this line later.

"Heap much love - Ruth"

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Although it has been said that Ruth died of childbirth, her death record gives her cause of death as appendicitis. It was also said that her husband was so poor that her father - [James Button] had to bury her.

She lived with her Linkletter grandparents and with her Aunt Edith and Uncle Jim Button as a teenager. Though she may not have been legally adopted, in 1910, she was called Ruth Button, "niece" to James Button.

In 1920 at age 19, she was enumerated as Ruth Button, "adopted daughter," when she married was called Ruth J. Button, and when she died was called Ruth Button Hyde.

Although she was buried in Traverse City, there were also services for her in Big Rapids, Michigan on 15 July 1927.