I came across this photo today in a package of photos I was planning to send my niece, Cindy, my sister Carol’s daughter. She’s the young lady in the photo, and it was in a file of my Aunt Muriel, who died in 2011 and her daughter gave me some photos to return to family members.
Here’s what I know from the note on the back of the photo. The occasion was a display of family mementoes at the Church of the Brethren in Mt. Morris, Illinois, for the bi-centennial in 1976. My mother and her sister Muriel had a few items that belonged to their grandmother, Susan George, who had travelled to Illinois as a bride in 1855 from Pennsylvania. This seems to be Susan’s wedding dress, as it looks like the dress in the only photo we have of her, so we’re assuming it was saved for that reason. The photo isn’t very clear, but I think the item in the plastic bag is her straw bonnet. In those days, Brethren women kept their heads covered, but the bonnets might be a simple covering with ties of sheer white net, or a straw hat, or black bonnet for Sunday dress. I don’t know where the dress is now, but I have the black bonnet.
Because of the 70s fashions, I’m not sure if Cindy is wearing her own dress with lacy sleeves, or if she might also be wearing a gown of the 19th century. I’ll have to ask her and update this when I find out.
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1 comment:
I remember being fascinated with family history and loving to hear grandma (Olive Weybright Corbett) tell stories about her mom and grandmother (Susan Reed George). Aunt Muriel and Cousin Diane told me that the dresses had been donated to the historical museum in Dixon, IL. I was wearing my 8th grade graduation dress in this picture. Still have it for my great, great granddaughter to wonder. lol
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