The world was at war. The average salary was $1,299 a year and half of U.S. homes had indoor plumbing.
It was 1940, and on Jan. 9 of that year, Andrew and Maude Spellman were married.
Seventy years later, the Lincoln couple celebrated their amazing union with a score of family and friends at the Mt. Zion church in Ellendale.
Though aged and gray, the couple remains as dedicated to each other as they’ve been since they were newlyweds. They first met around 1938 when Andrew delivered a message to 17-year-old Maude for her family, and though Maude noted she “remembered him” from their first meeting, it wasn’t until a subsequent meeting at a Christmas play that their relationship took off.
“That’s when we decided to become serious,” Andrew said.
Living across two states, Virginia and North Carolina, the couple’s romance blossomed through the mail and they saw each other every weekend.
“We did that for a couple of years before we got married in Elizabeth City, N.C.,” Maude said.
The couple moved to Virginia and back to North Carolina working in fields, picking cotton, digging potatoes and harvesting tomato, beans and an assortment of other crops.
They also began growing their family — bringing two of their eventual 12 children into the world.
“We both worked in the field, and the children also worked in the field back then,” Andrew said.
“We didn’t have much time that we didn’t’ work,” Maude added. “When I wasn’t working, I was cooking, ironing and getting ready for the next day.”
Moving to Delaware
In 1946, the couple packed up the kids and moved to Delaware in search of work.
“We’ve been here ever since. We made it our home,” said Andrew.
After moving about a bit and trying different jobs such as chicken farming, the couple bought a three-acre parcel in Lincoln that they’ve called home for 50 years. As they filled their home with a dozen children, they also found another calling in life.
They founded the New Shiloh Church in Lincoln where Andrew became minister in 1959 and Maude followed as an evangelist.
Together, the couple ministered to the community, ran a feeding program and helped residents with their needs. Andrew supplemented their income with a construction job but after retiring at age 65, he dedicated himself full-time to the ministry.
Sitting in their living room among a lifetime of memories, the couple chuckled when asked whether they’re still best friends.
“Yup,” Maude said, cracking a smile on her broad face. “You have to have the love in your heart to forgive each other. Forgiveness is the key to fixing what is not right.”
Family advice
Forgiveness is key in bringing up children as well, she added.
“When one hurts the other … if they learn forgiveness when they’re young, they’ll endure,” she said.
Their family of 14 also has grown quite a bit over the years — so much they painstakingly counted 40 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren, careful not to leave anyone out.
Though their children have spread out across the country from California, to Texas, and Maryland, many remain in Delaware where they pay frequent visits.
Four of their sons entered the military, others found jobs in teaching, computers and nursing. All grew to be handsome, statuesque adults and are their parents pride and joy.
“We had a good life in marriage and a wonderful family. It was all because of the Lord,” Andrew said.
Remembering the good times
Working in the fields in the early days of their marriage may have been back-breaking work, but it was a simple time that Andrew said he looks back upon with fondness.
The break-down of the family unit and disintegration of marriage as an institution has been a disappointment to the stately couple as they reminisced how society has changed since they first met. Lasting marriages like their own are something they both agree they would like to see more of these days.
“You have to have salvation to endure a long marriage,” Maude said. “You have to learn to give and take. Sometimes you have to give more than you take ... I’m just putting it out there.”
But she should know.
They have 70 years of proof that it can happen.
“You have to work at it. In order to make it work, you have to work at it,” Andrew said.
Ellendale, Del. —
