Wedding Dress, 1858-1863
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Wedding Dress, 1858-1863
Ivory organza silk
Gift of Eleanor Moore Webster
Eleanor H. Bechtel (1839-1926) married David Moore (1834-1869) of London Grove at Sunnyside, Kimberton by Friends' ceremony on October 20, 1859. This dress shows the restrained Quaker approach to fashionable dress of the time. Ten years later, David died of cholera. After her husband's death, Eleanor returned to Chester County and accepted the position of Matron of the Soldiers Orphan School at Chester Springs. In 1874, she was promoted to principal and she became the first female principal in the state orphan system. Eleanor married a second time to Simpson McCullough in 1882. When she died in 1926, she was known as the great friend of the soldiers’ orphans.
Accession Number: 1989.747AC - Click To Request Information.
