Large Grant Awarded To Preserve Avon’s Oldest Dress

AVON, CT — The Avon Historical Society has won $5,000 from the Americana Corner Preserving America Grant Program to fund a museum-quality mannequin and display case to house the oldest textile in its collection.

A late 18th century, handmade silk dress worn in a wedding in 1794 in Northington (colonial era
name for Avon) is the oldest textile in the collection of the Avon Historical Society.

Thanks to a matching grant from the National Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), through the Abigail Phelps Chapter in Simsbury, the dress was conserved in 2023.

It will be on permanent display in the new Avon History Museum when renovations and permanent exhibits are completed later this year.

Currently, the dress is on temporary display through May in the History Corner of the Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, as part of the society’s 50th-anniversary exhibit of unique artifacts.

The dress was worn by Comfort Peck of Bristol for her marriage to Jesse Wilcox on Feb. 5, 1794.

The marriage was performed by Rev. Rufus Hawley and confirmed in his journal which is
also in the collection of the society and library.

The dress was donated to the Society almost 50 years ago by the family of Carrie Wilcox, great-granddaughter of Comfort and Jesse Wilcox.

Written confirmation from the family provided provenance for the later federal period dress.

Before the elaborate white wedding dress worn by Queen Victoria to Prince Albert in the mid-19th century, women wore a “best dress” for their wedding.

This dress is a fine example of a period dress of a middle-class family in Connecticut at the time.

The groom, Jesse Wilcox, was raised in what is now the oldest house in Avon.

He had two brothers who served in the American Revolution in the decades before his marriage.

Comfort and Jesse Wilcox raised five children in Northington and are buried in West Avon Cemetery on Country Club Road.

The total cost for the dress mannequin and display case is $9,000.

Donations to cover the remainder of the costs can be made to the Avon Historical Society, PO Box 448, Avon, CT 06001.

For more information on the Avon Historical Society, click on this link.