Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Dress, Wedding |
Object ID # |
1987.66.1 |
Title |
Elizabeth Bechtel Schantz wedding dress, 1837. |
Creator |
Maker Unknown |
Place of Origin |
Berks County, Pennsylvania |
Date |
1837 |
Material |
Silk |
Description |
Teal blue silk taffeta dress with full "leg-of-mutton" sleeves ending in pointed turned up cuffs, with a fan-pleated bodice in front. The skirt had been raised with pleats and tucks and some point, and then lowered again to full length (the crease lines are still obvious). |
Provenance |
Worn by Elizabeth H. Bechtel (1816-1897) at her 1837 wedding to Henry G. Schantz (1807-1864). She was the daughter of Mennonite bishop John Bechtel (1779-1843) and Elizabeth High Bechtel (1789-1873) of Hereford Twp., Berks Co. Henry G. Schantz was also the son of a Mennonite minister. After their marriage, Henry and Elizabeth lived near Hosensack, Lehigh Co., and were members of Upper Milford Mennonite Church. The dress was passed down to Elizabeth's daughter Mary B. Schantz Longacre, then to her daughter Katie May Longacre Grant, and finally to her daughter Dorothy, the donor. The donor remembers wearing the dress as a Halloween costume in her teenage years in Quakertown, PA. |
Source |
Gift of Dorothy Longacre McGann |
People |
Schantz, Elizabeth H. Bechtel, 1816-1897 Schantz, Henry G., 1807-1864 |
Collection |
Clothing-Wedding Dresses |