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From:
Subject: 19th Century Dress
Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 18:44:51 EST


My husband's Aunt Margaret YOUNG (age 84) died less than a month ago.

When going through her things, we found a wedding dress in a tiny little
cedar chest that nobody knew existed. There was also a christening gown of
unknown origin. This was Aunt Margaret's grandmother's wedding dress from 1872.
We have the wedding picture to prove it.

What a find!!

A little background, the YOUNGs were some of the first settlers in Fillmore
County, MN, USA in the 1850s. They immigrated from Dunfermline at that time.
They were Angus cattle farmers. The family farm is still in existence
today.

Anyhow, the YOUNGs were somewhat "well to do" by Minnesota standards.

This dress was very interesting to study. It had no stays. The stitches
were very precise. You could tell that this wedding dress was worn for other
things. The seams had been taken out several times. It was not white, but a
very pretty brownish lavender. You could tell that the collar was "store
bought" lace and not hand made. It had folded silk pleats about the bodice in
blue and a full skirt. It was cinched at the waist. There were dozens of
silk covered blue buttons that started at the shoulder and ran down diagonally
to the waist. I was amazed at the preciseness of the buttonholes. We also
found the petticoat.

I sat and studied this dress for several hours. It was like going back in
time. I feel so lucky to have been able to see such a piece of history up
close.

We are donating the dress to a local museum. Who wants to be responsible
for ruining a piece of history? The entire family agrees that care for this
dress is better left to experts and future generations to enjoy.

Liz

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