BENTONVILLE — Among the weddings held at the historic Peel Mansion and Historic Gardens this year, there was one that may have caused a stir among the resident ghosts some say haunt the mansion.
Stephanie Marquess, the great-great-great granddaughter of Col. Samuel West Peel, married Dustin Throop on Sept. 25 in the gardens, 125 years after Peel built the Italianate mansion for his wife, Mary Emaline Berry Peel.
Peel, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War, was the first native-born Arkansan elected to the U.S. Congress, where he served from 1883-93. After his time in Washington he moved back to Bentonville where he continued practicing law. He sold the house and surrounding farmland in 1904.
Stephanie is the first member of the Peel family to be married there in more than 100 years, said Stephanie’s mother, Judy Marquess.
The family believes at least three of Peel’s children were married at the home, with the last being Catherine Peel in 1894. Stephanie carried Catherine’s handkerchief in herbouquet for her walk down the aisle.
Stephanie’s childhood dreams included a garden wedding with roses and other flowers. She says she thought she might get married at the house, but once it came time to make arrangements for her wedding, there was no doubt that it would be held at her ancestor’s former home.
Stephanie is the sixth generation of the Peel family to remain in Bentonville, but other branches of her family have been here even longer.
While growing up, Stephanie spent a lot of time at the Peel Mansion with her grandmother, Mary Coe Peel Marquess. Marquess would spend hours looking through microfiche at the genealogical library that was then located at Peel House.
“To some people that might not have sounded fun, but she was telling me stories the whole time,” Stephanie says. They were stories of her ancestors and their neighbors in the early years of Bentonville, when Peel Mansion was on the outskirts of town and surrounded by acres of apple orchards.
Stephanie says she has always been proud of her heritage. She recalls being asked to lead her fifth-grade class on a tour of the museum because she was so well versed in its history.
Dustin, meanwhile, moved with his parents, James Throop and his late mother, Sandy, from Kansas City, Mo., to Bentonville in 1998. Dustin didn’t visit the mansion until less than a year before he would marry there.
“I feel bad I hadn’t taken him before. It just didn’t cross my mind,” Stephanie says.
Dustin says he fell in love with the architecture and gardens.
Not that her new husband didn’t get the full family history from Stephanie’s relatives. Every time he was around her grandmother, she would share a piece of history about some portion of the family.
Stephanie and Dustin met while attending Bentonville High School, where they were in drama class and performed in plays together.
“We were just good friends,” Dustin recalls.
“I had a huge crush on him,” Stephanie says with a smile.
“But I was preoccupied,” Dustin says. It was another girl.
Stephanie and Dustin lost contact after she graduated in 2004. He graduated the following year and then enrolled at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She was busy with classes at Northwest Arkansas Community College and caring for her daughter, Lizzy.
Two years later they reconnected while watching a mutual friend’s band at George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville, and this time, all of his attention was on her.
“He said, ‘We are going to do something this weekend,’” Stephanie recalls of their reunion. “We have been together ever since.”
He proposed three years later at Christmas.
The first thing she did after saying yes to Dustin’s proposal was to call the Peel House to get on the event schedule, she recalls.
“We chose our wedding date by which date was open at the house,” she says.
Stephanie says she wants Lizzy, now 5, to follow her own dreams for her future as far as when, where and if she will be married. But, there’s one thing Stephanie will make certain - her daughter will know her family history.
Northwest Profile, Pages 46 on 10/31/2010