2000.134.1

This dress is believed to have been a part of the trousseau of Rachel Sears Snyder (b.1853-d.1940) of Sonoma, California. (Sears family name prominent in Sonoma County, e.g. Sears Point.) The dress, in tea gown style, with a modified Watteau back (meant for wear at home, among family and intimate friends) is made of a printed silk, vertical stripes of tan and cream color, with cream colored dots in the tan stripes and mauve dots in the cream colored stripes. Brown dots in two different sizes accent both the stripes and the circles. The garment is lined in cream colored cotton twill, buttoning down the interior front, ending with a machine embroidered eylet flounce at the hem. The tea gown has 3/4 length sleeves; both the edges of the sleeves and the high collared neckline are trimmed with machine embroidered net with a scalloped edge and bows of silk faille ribbon with satin selvages, also trimmed with crocheted lozenge-shaped tassels. There is a tape on the inside to tie around the waist, assuring a good fit and accenting the fullness in the skirt back. Rachel was married in 1874 to Jacob Rink Snyder (b.1812-d.1878) who was John C. Fremont's Quartermaster in the California Battlion, 1845 and a Representative in 1849 at the First Constitutional Convention in Monterey; from 1850-1852 he was a partner of James King of William. In 1853 he was Assistant Treasurer of the United States and Treasurer of the San Francisco Mint. He retired in 1861 and became a Sonoma wine grower.

Used: Rachel Sears Snyder | Trousseau | At home | Sonoma

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