July 30, 2007
American Ceremony III Posted by John Steele Gordon at 02:40 PM EST Alexander Burns’s description of the governor of Massachusetts proceeding in stately procession to the Harvard commencement in a carriage with armed guards in scarlet uniforms reminds me of a family story too good not to pass on. My aunt’s great-great grandfather was Edwin D. Morgan, who served as governor of New York from 1859 to 1862. Both he and his wife were, shall we say, amply proportioned in the best Victorian manner. “Between us,” he once proudly said, “my wife and I dispose of better than a quarter of a ton.” On some ceremonial occasion, they were in a parade, going up Broadway in an open carriage. As the bands played, the soldiers marched, and, presumably, the people cheered, the bottom of the carriage suddenly gave way, depositing the governor and his lady unceremoniously onto the pavement, fortunately on their feet. All dignity instantly dispensed with, the two of them ran along, surrounded by what was left of the carriage, until the coachman could bring the frightened horses under control and halt them. How they finally extricated Governor and Mrs. Morgan from the wreck is not recorded, but I imagine the spectators on the sidewalk enjoyed themselves immensely at their expense.
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