Historic Treasure of the Week - July 26, 1992
By Deborah C. Drummy
Vigo County Historical Society
Historic Treasure of the Week - July 26, 1992
By Deborah C. Drummy
Vigo County Historical Society
Everyday things make up Valley history
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley holds a vast collection of antique artifacts from the daily lives of Wabash Valley residents dating back to the settlement of the area in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The holdings include tools, toys, clothing, art, household furnishings--a little bit of everything. Many items have direct significance because of association with historic events and people. Most of the time, however, they are historically connected to the area merely by having once been commonly used by area residents, before being phased out of use or replaced by more modern versions.
How or why these items happen to have been kept long enough to become museum pieces is hard to say. People tend not to think about the fact that everyday things in their lives might one day provoke curiosity or fascination in the minds of museum visitors.
This week’s historical treasure--a wedding dress (circa 1855)-- is the type of article very frequently passed along for generations, sometimes used again, but many times just stored away and hopefully looked in upon with wonder and appreciation over the years.
Vintage wedding gowns carry so many memories, tradition and family history that it’s not surprising they are kept so often and so long.
Family bibles also frequently are preserved over many generations.
At some point, however, lack of descendants or interest, or sometimes concern over the physical preservation of the wedding gown, bible or other family heirloom, leads the owner to seek museum placement of the treasure.
That explains why the historical museum has such a nice collection of 19th century and early 20th century wedding gowns. Most are not regularly displayed, although an album in the museum’s reference library documents each with a photograph and description.
The information provided for the featured gown tells us that the dress was donated to the Vigo County Historical Society in 1983 by Stephen Cornell. The dress was worn by Lula Daggett Miller, mother of Frances Miller Cornell, when she married sometime between 19855 and 1860, immediately prior to the Civil War.
That is all the personal information provided, but the gown is described in detail:
Two pieces: Top--beige, sheer, with heavier stripe silk; scoop neck bodice edged with ruffle, beige ribbon trim, cap sleeves with ribbon trim; two rows ribbon form a vee on bodice front; attached pleated ribbon at waist with knot at back and two long fringed streamers.
Skirt--floor length, gored, with short train in back. Separate overskirt forms vees at back and sides; trimmed with ribbon; silk underskirt lined with stiffer material.
The next page of the album shows a matching flower girl’s dress, also in the collection.
From our vantage point at the end of the 20th century, we’re not surprised to hear of any manner of non-traditional wedding ceremonies or dress. Most of us probably have the idea that our 19th century ancestors were absolute sticklers for the traditional white dress church wedding as the norm today.
Evidence in the museum’s album would prove us wrong.
The museum’s wedding dress collection, while giving no indication of anything so bizarre as parachute or roller skate weddings, reveals the symbolic white dress sometimes was foregone, and maybe wasn’t even a tradition 100 years ago.
The collection includes gowns of navy blue (1880), soft green (1887), yellow (1892), medium brown (1894) and pink (1932).
People interested in more information from the wedding dress collection may visit the museum’s library.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.