A piece of history donated to Canton

By Courtney Warren

The Canton-Madison County Historical Society gained another piece of history recently after a donation was made to the group. 

Laura Mullins, a former Canton resident, reached out to the society to donate a dress circa 1860. The dress would have been worn by a Civil War-era plantation lady of the house for daily wear, to greet any visitors, and to supervise field workers. The dress was donated and displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York by an unknown donor many years ago. 

Mullins purchased the dress from the museum six years ago and wore it when she was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution as she was hostessing at Rosalie DAR headquarters in Natchez. 

Mullins said she chose to donate the dress so it could be displayed at the Old Jail Museum. 

She shared knowledge about the history of the dress and wrote “The dress is tattered silk as one might imagine. It is very small with a waist diameter of 25 inches or less.”

Mullins recommended the dress be displayed and worn over crinolines, petticoats, and or a hoop to show off the small train and the true fullness of the skirt. 

“I hope the society enjoys ownership of this unique dress. I enjoyed visiting with everyone at the recent society meeting,” said Mullins. 

The mission of the society is to preserve the rich history of the area through the collection and maintenance of records and artifacts, through the encouragement of preservation and local historical research to present Madison County’s history to the public by means of museums, archives, creative and educational programming and publications; and to promote cultural tourism as an effective means of communicating the lessons of history to visitors and citizens of Madison County.

The dress will be on display at the jail, which is a historic reconstruction-era penal facility in Canton. The jail operated until 1969, just over 99 years, and during that time there was only one escapee. 

For more information about the Canton-Madison County Historical Society, call 769-218-0666.