The Boat People
Wendy and I were married by John Bull
on October 7, 2000 upon the top deck of the Betsy Ann Riverboat in
the Alabama River off the shore of Montgomery, Alabama. The event was
the talk of Prattville, Alabama. We had many relatives and friends
come from out-of-state, and the day was sunny, though a bit breezy
and cool. The entertainment was by Mr. Henry Pugh and his rendition
of Louis Armstrong's “What a Wonderful World” cemented it as “our
song” from then on. It was very memorable!
We'll fast forward to Tuesday, January
16, 2001. I am at my desk in a trailer between two paper machine
buildings, checking email and filling in a spreadsheet of some sort.
Wendy is at home making plans for a trip to Denver later that year.
Wendy received a call from the Autauga County Probate Office.
Wendy: “Hello.”
Probate clerk: “Is this Mrs. Scheider?”
Wendy: “Yes, this is she.”
Probate clerk: “Mrs. Scheider, I don't know how to tell you
this...”
Wendy: “Well, just say it and we'll go from there.”
Probate clerk: “Okay - Mrs. Scheider, the state is refusing to
recognize your marriage this past October.”
Wendy: “Can they do that?”
Probate clerk: “Yes, ma'am, and they have.”
Wendy: “Oh – I must call my husband!”
Wendy then called me on the phone at my
desk. I recognized that the caller ID showed my home number.
Steve: “Howdy cutie.”
Wendy: “Honey, I just received a call from the Autauga County
Probate Office about our marriage license. They say that the state
isn't accepting it.”
Steve: “Really?”
Wendy: “Yes, really.”
Steve: “Well, I think that John Bull should know about it, so we
should call him. And we'll need another marriage license, so please
call the Probate Office and see when we can get in for one of those.”
Wendy: “I'll do that. John Bull and the Probate Office. Got it.
Love you!”
Steve: “Love you too!”
Wendy then found John Bull's number in our home telephone book and
gave him a call.
John Bull: “Hello!”
Wendy: “Hello, is this John Bull?”
John Bull: “Yes it is, how can I help you?”
Wendy: “John, I'm Wendy Scheider, you married me and my husband
back in October on the Betsy Ann Riverboat. Do you remember us?”
John Bull: “I do a lot of weddings...”
Wendy: “John, the Autauga County Probate Office is telling me that
the state is refusing to acknowledge our wedding.”
John Bull: “What?”
Wendy: “Yeah, John, they're not accepting our marriage license.”
John Bull: “Oh... I've been performing weddings for ten years and I
haven't had a problem and I have a wedding scheduled for this
Saturday. Let me make some calls, Mrs. Scheider, and I'll call you
back.”
Wendy: “Okay, John.”
Then Wendy turned to handling the second task with the Probate
office.
Probate clerk: “Hello? Autauga County Probate.”
Wendy: “Hello, I'm Wendy Scheider, and I spoke with someone from
your office earlier. They told me that the state wouldn't recognize
my marriage to my husband last October, so I'd like to schedule a
time for us to pick up a new marriage license.”
Probate clerk: “Well, you could pick up the marriage license any
day that the two of you are available to come down to the probate
office. But if you would like to be married by the Probate Judge,
that's done on Friday afternoon.”
Wendy: “Is there an availability this coming Friday?”
Probate clerk: “Yes, there is – at two o'clock.”
Wendy: “That's fantastic! Please schedule us for that time.”
Probate clerk: “Okay, please arrive at about 1:45 so we can have
both of you fill out the license prior to the wedding.”
Wendy: “We will! Thank you! Bye!”
Wendy then called me back. Steve: “Howdy cutie!”
Wendy: “Hi honey, ready to marry me again?”
Steve: “I'll marry you as many times as it takes, cutie.”
Wendy: “Well that's great, because we will have another one on
Friday at two o'clock.”
Steve: “Where?”
Wendy: “At the Probate Office. We go there at 1:45 and fill out the
marriage license, and the Probate Judge will marry us at two. Is that
okay?”
Steve: “I'll ask for Friday afternoon off. It should be okay. Any
news with John Bull?”
Wendy: “He was shocked, so he's checking on things on his end. He
has a wedding this Saturday that he has to officiate and I'm sure
this is going to change how that goes off.”
Steve: “I'm sure. Okay, cutie, let me ask Mel for Friday afternoon
off. I'll call you right back.”
Wendy: “Okay, love you!”
Steve: “Love you, too!”
I then walked
down to the other end of the trailer, where my boss' office was. Mel
was staring at trends on the computer screen. I walked in and greeted
him: “Hi Mel!”
Mel: “Hi.”
Steve: “Mel, do you mind if I take off Friday afternoon? I'm going
to get married.”
Mel: “Didn't you already do that?” (Mel was at our wedding on the
Betsy Ann riverboat.)
Steve: “Yeah, I did, but I have to do it again. The state won't
recognize our wedding, so we'll get it done by the Probate Judge. He
has an opening this Friday, so we're going to do it then.”
Mel: “Yeah, okay – do you need witnesses or anything?”
Steve: “I don't think so, but I'll check and let you know.”
I walked back to my desk and called Wendy.
Wendy: “Hello.”
Steve: “Howdy, cutie. I talked to Mel and we're a go for Friday. Do
we need any witnesses, or will Probate provide them?”
Wendy: “I don't know about witnesses. I can check on that a little
later. John Bull called back.”
Steve: “Really? What did he have to say?”
Wendy: “He was very apologetic – he found out that it is true
that our marriage wasn't acknowledged by the state. It was because it
was performed on water.”
Steve: “Oh. So he has a work around for his wedding on Saturday,
then. Good for him.”
Wendy: “I told him about us getting remarried with the Probate
Judge, and he said that he and his wife would be our witnesses if we
need them.”
Steve: “I think that there's folks in the Probate Office that can
do that. We can check, but I thank him for the offer.”
Wendy: “I think so, too.”
Steve: “Well, cutie, I have to get back to work. I'll see you when
I get home. Love you!”
Wendy: “Love you, too!”
As it turns out,
the office staff of the Probate Judge are more than happy to stand in
as witnesses for weddings, so we were covered. The Probate Judge at
that time, January 2001, was Al Booth. I'll pick up the tale on that
Friday at the Probate Office.
Probate clerk: “Hello! Can I help you?”
Wendy: “Hi! I'm Wendy Scheider, and this is my husband, Steve.
We're here for a marriage license.”
Probate clerk: “Ok... Here's the form – your information goes
here and his is over there.”
Wendy: “We also have a two o'clock appointment with the Judge for
the wedding.”
Probate clerk: “Two o'clock... let me see, let me see... hah! Are
you the 'boat people'?”
Wendy: “Yes, our first marriage was on the Betsy Ann Riverboat...”
Probate clerk, calling to everyone else in the office: “Hey,
everyone, come here – it's the 'boat people'!”
And folks
appeared as if out of the woodwork to show the nicely framed forms
that we would be getting along with other items and to dole out
congratulatory hugs and handshakes. I looked at Wendy and said: “I
guess that we're the 'boat people' now.”
Wendy to me: “It
appears so.”
It took a few
minutes for the din to die down and for the usual reserved office
banter to return. During this time, I shook hands with over a dozen
folks that I have never met. We were guided into the Judge's office,
where the ceremony would take place.
Probate clerk: “Judge, these are the Scheider's and they are here
to be married today.”
Judge Al Booth, standing to greet us: “Hello! That's great! A
marriage is an institution...”
Wendy: “Judge... pardon me for interrupting, but do you know who we
are?”
Judge Booth took a long gaze at both of us: “No, I don't know you –
should I know you?”
Wendy: “We're the 'boat people'.”
The Judge's eyes widened as the 'boat people' title suddenly made
everything self explanatory. Judge: “We have real nice certificates
for you two, I think that they're...”
Wendy: “I have some certificates at home, Judge, and they're not
worth a red cent. Will this marriage take?”
Judge Al Booth: “Yes, I can assure you that I can preside over
weddings and that this will take. So we'll just skip to the important
stuff.”
Steve: “One moment, please. Have I been committing fraud? After
all, I have Wendy listed on insurance forms and the like.”
Judge Al Booth: “Since you presented one another as husband and
wife on the riverboat, that act would allow your marriage to fall
under 'common law', so, no, you haven't been committing fraud.”
The Judge looked at both of us and asked: “Any more questions?”
We shook our heads. Wendy: “No”; Steve: “Not from me.”
Judge Al Booth then had us recite our vows affirming with “I dos.”
And with that,
Wendy and Steve were remarried as the 'boat people'.
The Betsy Ann
Riverboat
The Betsy Ann
was the victim of Montgomery politics in the worst way. The
politicians decided to open a minor league baseball field for the
Montgomery Biscuits, a farm team for the Tampa Bay Rays. Along with
the field was a shopping area with many restaurants. In order to make
way for the renovation, the paddle-wheeler had to be displaced. It
moored up in Wetumpka for a number of years, and when the field was
ready, the Betsy Ann wasn't invited back. Instead, the politicians
decided that the larger Harriott II paddle-wheeler was a better fit
for the Montgomery waterfront. After her sale and a series of
destinations, the Betsy Ann now calls Biloxi, MS home.
John Bull
When we came to
reserve the Betsy Ann, John told me that he and his father originally
owned the Betsy Ann and that they performed all their own
maintenance, outside of cleaning the keel. John was also very active
in the blues scene in Montgomery. He was a headliner for any of the
blues festivals in the Montgomery area. That has never changed, and
John continues to play the harmonica whenever and where ever he can.
And it was that connection that landed Henry Pugh for our wedding.
John was disheartened to leave the Montgomery waterfront and further
frustrated when his ship wasn't invited back. However, when the
politicians decided to use the Harriott II, they found that there was
one man fit to move the boat from its location on the east coast and
pilot it up the river to the waterfront slip at Montgomery, and that
was John Bull. After some dealing, John also became the Captain and
maintainer for the Hariott II, and we enjoyed a trip on the Hariott
II to celebrate our tenth anniversary. That day was John Bull's last
day to Captain the craft, and we were certain to shake his hand as we
left.
Henry Pugh
Mr. Pugh was a
fantastic keyboardist and singer. His rendition of “What a
Wonderful World” became “our song” to Wendy and me. When we
cruised onboard the Harriott II, Henry was playing, and we approached
him and told him our tale of the Betsy Ann and that it was ten years
ago. He smiled and played “What a Wonderful World” for us and we
swayed and danced close and I recalled our wedding day. Henry passed
away on August 15, 2020 due to complications with COVID-19. His
memory will always be carried in our hearts.
Al Booth
Judge Al Booth
served as the Judge of Probate for Autauga County Alabama from 2000
through 2018. In 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor
ethics violation after a Grand Jury indictment as part of a plea
deal. At the time of his trial, he was the county's Republican Party
Chairman.
