walter_p_rowland

WALTER P. ROWLAND


"WALTER P. ROWLAND 'LIKES TO TALK ABOUT MARRYING'"


From the "News Journal," Drumright, Oklahoma, November 28, 1984

Walter P. Rowland may or may not have performed the nuptials when the notorious Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker tied the knot over 50 years ago.

But one thing is certain. He is responsible for some 1,264 other marriages that have taken place in and around this Love County town.

Rowland, 94, said he indeed united two people in marriage who had the same names at the Depression-era gangsters. But, to this day he has never known for sure whether he married the infamous Mr. and Mrs. Barrow or some other couple who didn't make their living robbing banks.

He likes to talk about marrying people.

Rowland has been preaching since he was 14 years old. He was ordained in 1917 at the age of 27. Three years ago, the Oklahoma House of Representatives cited him for his prolonged ministry. The citation noted that the white-haired preacher had baptized over 1,000, married over 1,000, held over 1,000 funeral services, still preaches, plays the piano, leads singing occasionally, has authored two books, numerous articles and is still writing.

As he said, "You name it. I've done it."

The minister, who also runs the only exclusive sewing machine and typewriter repair shop in Marietta, said financial times haven't always been good ones for Baptist preachers, especially during the Depression.

"I've always tried to go where God told me to go," he said. "I had to make living, and I used to preach a lot at churches that couldn't pay much. So, I've done a lot of things on the side."

Sometimes, however, being a minister can pay off. Rowland said he rmembers one day when three couple requested his services. He obliged and received $60 for the three ceremonies.

"The couple I married this morning gave me $8 and I had to pay my witnesses out of that!," he said in a recent interview. "I never know what they're going to give me. Sometimes it's just a thank you."

Rowland has records of 1,264 weddings he has performed. That doesn't include the ones he did the fisrt 13 years he was a minister. "I didn't think it would ever amount to anything, so I didn't write them all down," he said.

He may not have them all written down, but he does have a number of them stored away in his mind, especially the unusual ones.

"I owned a farm about a mile northeast of here and I had a store in town," he said. "I had gone home one day to work on a tractor."

"I was black up to my elbows with grease when this well-dressed couple drove up and said, 'We want you to marry us.' I told them to go back into town and get a cleaned-up preacher to do it and they said they wanted me."

Being the accomodating man of the cloth he was known for being, Rowland pulled out a Bible and married the two right there in his field.

He said about 20 years later a man came up to his door and asked if the minister remembered him from a wedding 20 years ago., "I said, 'Why would I remember you? I've married over 1,000 other couples.'"

The man then related the stroy about the field wedding to the preacher and told Rowland, "I'd like you to marry my son. My wife and I have been so happy over the years, we'd like you to do it."



Use Browser's "Back" Arrow To Return To Previous Page


* * * A QMS Deezyne * * *