Lewelling Museum receives 'Sunday go-to-meeting' dress

SALEM ? The Lewelling Quaker Museum in Salem has recently received a Victorian-era dress to add to its collection of period clothing. The dress was donated by Elsie Pidgeon Craig, on behalf of descendants of Isaac and Phoebe Pidgeon who were among the first settlers to arrive in Salem in 1835.

The dress was worn by Mary Pidgeon, daughter of William K. and Penina Trueblood Pidgeon. She was born August 26,1851, at the Pidgeon homestead one-and-one-half miles south of Salem, and died in 1944 at 92 years of age. It is estimated that she wore the dress during the 1880s to 1890s. A jacket and skirt ensemble, it is brown in color with velvet collar and lapel.

The second of 12 children in her family, Pidgeon attended rural schools and later Whittier College in Salem and Howe?s Academy in Mt. Pleasant. She followed the teaching profession for 15 years in Iowa and Nebraska before returning to Salem to care for her elderly parents.

She was a devout ?birthright? member of the Friends Church in Salem. Early members of the Society of Friends, known as Quakers, held Sunday services in what they called their meeting house. The dress is labeled as Mary?s ?Sunday go-to-meeting? dress.

In 2014 the Lewelling Quaker Museum received a grant of $3,000.00 from the Enhance Henry County Community Foundation. The grant is for ?Textile Storage, Exhibiting and Security? of artifacts and items in the museum. Grant money has been used to purchase archival quality materials for proper storage and display of fragile textiles.

The board of directors of the Lewelling Quaker Museum appreciates the Enhance Henry County Community Foundation for helping to preserve the museum?s collection and the history of Salem and Henry County.