This dress was worn by Margaret Jane McCornack at her wedding to Myron Gage on May 14, 1872. The dress has been passed down in her family, and is now in the possession of her great-granddaughter. She told me that the McCornack family came from Scotland to the Elgin, IL, area in 1835 for religious reasons. Margaret’s father Alexander McCornack was born in St. Luce parish south of Glascow. The Gage family came to the US in the 17th century.
The dress is now headed to the Elgin History Museum. Margaret's great-granddaughter brought it to me for mending before it goes to the museum.
To add to the fun, here's a family portrait taken the day after the wedding. Margaret is sitting on the far left side in the second row. Her father and mother are seated on the right of the second row.
The dress is a textured silk, in one of those colors that just won't stay put in any one category. Is it an olive-greeny grey? Or is it a greyed olive green? We shall never know for sure! It is lined with a medium brown polished cotton.
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