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From the Godey Room Summer 2006 Costumes Exhibits at the King Caesar House: “Who lived here?” By Madelon S. Ali, Chairman, Costume Committee
This summer, interest in the historic characters is heightened by the publication of Patrick Browne’s book, King Caesar of Duxbury: Exploring the World of Ezra Weston , Shipbuilder and Merchant. Our portrayal of some of the characters that lived or visited in the King Caesar House at various times, dressed in the DRHS historic costumes, has become especially fascinating. Unless otherwise labeled, all of the costume pieces used are part of the over-1500 piece historic costume collection owned by the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society. This collection was begun in the early 1900’s by donations from the community, and continues to grow. Ezra Weston had the house built in 1808 and lived there until his death in 1842; his wife, Jerusha died in 1833; Weston family members lived there for the next 71 years, until the house was turned into the Powder Point School for Boys by Frederick Knapp, a great nephew of Jerusha Bradford Weston. For the summer exhibit in the office will be a mannequin dressed as Ezra Weston II, or King Caesar, dressed in an 1830’s brown coat and vest that belonged to Lloyd Granville Sampson. The boots are from the 1860’s. The shirt, cravat, and trousers are reproduction items. The hat is from 1840. In the West Parlor the three ladies’ costumes have been chosen to emulate the costumes in the 1826 wallpaper; dresses from 1810 through the 1830’s. A mannequin dressed in a cotton lawn 1830’s dress represents Jane Winsor (1808-1888). The dress was brought to her from Holland by her husband, Gershom Winsor, and has fine embroidery and interesting sleeves that are typical of the period. She is wearing an 1830’s pink crepe cap with netting and a rosette on each side. The shoes are early 19th century. Jane may very likely have visited this house. Jerusha Weston, wife of King Caesar, is represented by the mannequin wearing an 1830 cotton dress and ruffled cotton cap, an indoor cap. To go outdoors a woman would wear a bonnet placed over the ruffled cap, and the indoor cap would look like the trim showing at the edge of the bonnet brim. The third mannequin represents Lucy Drew, born in 1807, child of Charles and Betsy Drew. She is pictured in the West Parlor in an 1810 silk dress with a rust silk Spencer (a jacket worn over the dress covering the bodice) of the same period. Lucy is holding a muslin reticule that she made in 1815, with inspirational poems done in pen and ink, one of three in the collection. The Dining Room has three mannequins representing a later period in the history of the King Caesar House. Alden Bradford Weston, the middle son of Ezra and Jerusha, inherited the King Caesar House in 1842 and lived there until his death in 1880. He is shown seated at one end of the table dressed in an 1880’s black wool frock coat and vest that belonged to Lloyd Granville Samson, Jr. Phoebe Weston, his wife, sits at the other end of the table dressed in a late 1860’s cobalt blue and black two-piece silk dress donated by Nancy Morgan in 2004. They are served by the maid, Kate O’Brien, who is dressed in a black bodice from the 1850’s owned by Mary L Gay, and a black skirt of the period. The eyelet apron and cap are reproductions. In the East Parlor is a mannequin representing the era during which the King Caesar House was used as the Headmaster’s house for the Powder Point School for Boys. Fanny Knapp, wife of Headmaster Frederick Knapp, is wearing a skirt and blouse from the 1890’s shown as a sporting outfit. At this time in history it was becoming clear to medical professionals and women alike that being more physically active benefited their health. Women were encouraged to participate in an ever-increasing choice of sports: tennis, golf, croquet, yachting, and riding, to name a few. Fanny was interested in sports, and is dressed here for a game of tennis. While the Costume Committee has employed certain creative efforts to produce a quality and interesting exhibit, we have also consulted experts in the historic costume field and the many references we have to support the information we have presented. Please come to see the house on one of our summer tour days, Wednesday to Sunday every week through July and August, and every weekend in September, 1 PM – 4 PM, and get to know the “people”. Please direct any questions you have about the costumes on exhibit or the general care and management of the collection to Madelon Ali, Costume Chairman.# |
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Send mail to
pbrowne@duxburyhistory.org with
questions or comments about this web site.
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The
Costume Committee enjoys playing dress-ups. It is the part of our work that
allows us to be creative rather than perform the structured activities required
by prescribed methods of cataloguing, cleaning, storing, and data management.
Twice a year, for King Caesar House Christmas and the summer tours we are able
to get out “our” finery and interesting costumes and dress the mannequins. We
also enjoy researching the pieces and learning about the reasons certain styles
came about.