July 26, 1902: Edgar Boyer Hosts "Anything Goes" Stag Party

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

July 26, 1902: Edgar Boyer entertains frequently at the family mansion, 11 East Philadelphia Avenue, and tonight he hosted another of his famous affairs, this time his "stag” party.

His male friends all enthusiastically participated in the music, card playing, singing, cigars, the finest kind of “set up,” and some “very droll speeches.” The whole evening was a continuous round of fun and surprises. It was called a “genuine Bohemian style party, where ‘anything goes.’”

Edgar is a fantastic host, and he was, by great odds, the most enjoyable stag party they had ever attended. It was Edgar’s swan song as a bachelor; he was married to Ella Gabel, one of the “acknowledged belles” of the town, a month later.

Unfortunately, the marriage was not as successful as the stag party; by 1910 Ella was back home with her parents. In 1919, Edgar sued her for divorce on the grounds of desertion, and in the 1920 census she is listed as divorced and living with her sister’s family in Philadelphia.

Edgar apparently never remarried, and he continued to live with his father, a widower, until his death in 1930 at the age of 52. The beautiful home is now the Twin Turrets Inn [now The Atherton].

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