1836 Wedding Dress

Off-white silk wedding dress; pattern motif - floral sprigs in damask style; bodice- high waist, wide neckline reinforced width with forlded drape from shoulder/sleeve to center front; 3 rows of satin cords emphasises the painted waist; lace trim; back of bodice has corded detail- as illusion of a seam; full leg-o-mutton sleeves, pleated at the shoulder, pleats caught in honeycomb stitches, forms decorative detail 2 below the seam line; lower edge of the sleeve is knife pleated with folded corded ribbon folded over spaced 2 apart; full pleated skirt with cartridge pleats in center back; bodice lined with linen, small fall at hem.

HCT.1989.318.46

1836

This dress was worn by Elizabeth J. Porter upon her marriage to Dr. Francis Vergnies Noyes in Boston, Massachusetts on July 7, 1836. Dr. Noyes was born in 1809 in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard Medical College in 1831 and practiced medicine in his native Newburyport from 1831-1844. He and Elizabeth had two daughters, Ellen Maria born in 1837 and Catherine Porter in 1839. Elizabeth was the daughter of John Porter and Hannah Bartlett. John and Hannah were married in 1811. Hannah's father, William Bartlett, was a prominent merchant in Newburyport. When he passed in 1841, he left his home to Hannah and $20,000 to each of his grandchildren, including Elizabeth. Sadly, Elizabeth passed in 1857. Gift of Friends of the Historic Costume & Textiles Collection

Silk

1830-1839