By CHRIS SHOLLYLebanon Daily News
Updated: 07/25/2013 10:56:00 AM EDT
On his 24th birthday, Horace Brock married Deborah Norris Coleman, daughter of George Dawson and Deborah Brown Coleman on April 15, 1878, in one of the most extravagant weddings in Lebanon County history.
The couple was married in Christ Chapel, built by her father near the homestead at what is today Coleman Memorial Park, along Route 72 north of the city. The church was filled with flowers, and distinguished visitors from around Pennsylvania came to see the ceremony. Those from Philadelphia arrived on a special five-car train. A reception was held at 2 p.m., and afterward, employees of the Coleman furnaces and estate, accompanied by their wives, were received by the couple. The couple then left for Philadelphia in the parlor engine.
While the Lebanon County Historical Society doesn't have Mrs. Coleman's wedding dress, which was made in Paris, it does have a wedding portrait of her in its collection. The organization hopes to get the dress - or something similar to it - in the future.
But the society does have a large collection of wedding dresses from the past 100 years and has opened a new exhibit, which will run through October, featuring wedding fashions dating from 1827 to the 1950s. The exhibit includes only a portion of the society's wedding dress collection.
LCHS President Barbara Gaffney said the group received a donation of a 1930s wedding dress from a local family last fall. The dress belonged to the former Ada Simmers, who married Marcus R. Wampler
on Oct. 10, 1936.
"So, we thought for June, July and August this would be a nice exhibit," she said. "We have quite a large collection of wedding gowns. We thought this would be a light and airy exhibit and something people would be interested in. "
Not all of the wedding gowns on display are white; several in the exhibit are different colors, such as blue or red. Gaffney said white as a color for wedding gowns didn't come into vogue until the Victorian age. Earlier dresses were whatever
color the bride preferred, Gaffney said. It's believed the tradition started with Queen Victoria, who wore a white dress for her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. The idea spread across the Atlantic and was popularized by the wealthy families, who want to follow the latest fashions in Europe.
"They might have bought them for their wedding, but they bought them so they could wear them throughout the year for special occasions," Gaffney said.
Among the dresses and accessories on display are ones belonging to Sara Haak, wife of Richard Haak of Haak's Department Store; one worn by Martha Gates, who married Peter Holland in 1917; and Amanda Susan Shirk, who married the Rev. Henry Milton Miller on Sept. 5, 1893. A 1928 flapper-style bright blue silk dress worn by Mrs. Joseph Breen at her wedding in 1928 was made by Franklin Simons & Co., Fifth Avenue, N.Y.
Most of the dresses belonged to women who came from local wealthy families, Gaffney noted. Most of the gowns also were made by dressmakers for the wealthier women. But most middle- and lower-class women made their own dresses.
The exhibit also includes some early wedding portraits of Daniel Fegan Sr. and Magdalena Killinger by artist Jacob Maentel. The couple was married Nov. 9, 1817.
"Maentel was very prolific in what he did. It wasn't always weddings," Gaffney said.
The society's collection includes a Maentel painting of a woman in her early 1800s wedding dress and the actual dress she wore, she said.
Other wedding items on the exhibit include a dower chest filled with garments a young, single woman would make for her future. Also, there are wedding invitations, RSVP cards and notes and various wedding photos.
Gaffney pointed out that early wedding photos usually included the bride and groom but not the entire wedding party. There are also several elaborate marriage certificates on display.
Dresses in the current exhibit will be switched out with others in August so the public can see more of the collection, she said.
The exhibit is free for the public to view. The exhibit is located in the front parlor of the society's headquarters at 924 Cumberland St. Hours are 1-8 p.m. Monday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, 1-8 p.m., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 1-4:30 p.m. Sunday. The museum is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
For more information, call 717-272-1473, or visit the website at http://lebanoncountyhistoricalsociety.org.
Sholly's column appears periodically in the Daily News. She may be reached at 272-5611, ext. 151, or by email at chrissholly@ldnews.com. Also, visit the Our Story blog at www.LDNews.com.
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