1880 - Ella May Morris

Ella and Orlando on their 50th anniversay

…a two-tone beige/tan silk dress having a front laced corselet on the silk lace-trimmed bodice and a back mother-of-pearl button closure. The skirt front is trimmed with a wide horizontally pleated and gathered band above a box-pleated flounce and the back is gathered into a dropped bustle. 1880

             Ella May Morris wore this dress upon her marriage to Orlando A. Miller on October 20^th, 1880, and also to her 50^th wedding anniversary in 1930.

Ella was born February 7, 1860, in Woodsfield, Ohio where her father, William, was a dry goods merchant. She was one of ten children and the eldest daughter. Dry goods merchants often had access to dress materials and while there is no label for a dressmaker, this dress was most likely made by one as was typical for upper middle class families at this time. The style of this dress falls between the high bustle periods of the mid-1870s and mid-late 1880s. During the later 1870s and early 1880s, the bustle appears to have ‘fallen’ to behind the knees.

 Ella’s husband, Orlando Miller, was born on September 24, 1859 in Belmont County, Ohio. He began working at the Central Ohio Paper Company as a bookkeeper in 1875, becoming a partner in 1880, the same year they married. He later served as company president from 1887-1928 and became chairman of the board in 1928. The Central Ohio Paper Company was one of 17 companies that formed the National Paper Trade Association in 1903 in New York City. Orlando served as its first president. Ella and Orlando had four children. The dress was donated by one of their granddaughters, Barbara Miller Boothby Arnold.

Donated by the bride’s granddaughter, Mrs. Bartley Arnold

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