Tom and Terry Reiff

An antique walking stick capped with gold bands now hangs in the Jail Museum in Warsaw and holds a unique message of lasting love and marriage.

Given as a 50th wedding anniversary gift to Calvin and Isabelle Beagle of Oswego in 1887, the cane became a cherished family heirloom that was handed down through generations of the couple’s direct descendants. Each couple — eight in all — were presented the walking stick on their 50th wedding anniversaries.

On the anniversary of each couple, they would add a gold band engraved with their names and their anniversary date. Realizing the sentimental value of the priceless heirloom, the walking stick was given to the Kosciusko County Jail Museum for safe keeping by Helen Breading-McWorther of St. Louis, Mo.

Tom and Terry Reiff of North Webster were at the museum on Wednesday, May 28, to celebrate their 50th anniversary and add their own unique gold band to the cane.

Couples having possessed the antique walking stick have been Calvin and Isabelle Beagle (1837-1887), John and Phoebe Beagle (1863-1913), Ethel and Benhardt Youngston (1907-1957), Calvin and Ethel Beagle (grandson of John and Phoebe, 1926-1978), George and Margaret Beagle (1929-1979), Ruth and John Gleasner (1937-1987), Norma and Frank McGuire (1946-1996), Patricia and Richard Goetz (1961-2011) and Thomas and Terry Larsen Reiff (1964-2014).

The couples believe that the tight-fitting gold bands have helped bind the 50-year marriages.