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.
