<h4>Hawaiian Feather Cape</h4>
Feather cloaks - Hawaiian
Lost + Found family heirloom found in the <span>NMNH - Anthropology Dept. </span>collections on the Smithsonian Institution website about a Hawaiian feather cape passed down through the Dixon-Welling family.<br /><br /><div>
<table width="380"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><th>
<div><span>Catalog Number:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>E128386-0</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Specimen Count:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>1</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Division:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>Ethnology</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Object Name:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>Feather Cape</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Index Term:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>Cape</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Continent:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>Polynesia</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Country:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>United States</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Province/State:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>Hawaii</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Collector(s):</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>Cogswell, J.</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Collection Date:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>1837 (pre-1837?)</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Accession Number:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>019116</span></div>
</td>
</tr><tr><th>
<div><span>Donor Name:</span></div>
</th>
<td>
<div><span>Mrs. Clementine L. Welling</span></div>
</td>
</tr></tbody></table><div>The record notes contains interesting details: </div>
</div>
<br />Collector: J. Cogswell (Rev. Jonathan Cogswell 1782-1864) our great3 grandfather<br />Donor: Mrs. Clementine L. Welling (Clementine Lydia Dixon Welling 1843-1912) our great1 grandmother<br /><br />Collection date: 1837 (pre-1837?) The family has no record of Rev J Cogswell acquiring a the cape and boa. The Record Collection date of 1837 is the same year his first wife, Elizabeth Abbot Cogswell died and he married second wife, Jane Eudora Bayard Kirkpatrick Cogswell. <br /><div></div>
<p>From card: "Ground of red feathers of the Iiwi (Vestiaria coccinea) [a.k.a. 'i'iwi or Hawaiian Honeycreeper.] Two centrally located crescents, one crescent under the neck, and a vertical crescent on each side of the front of yellow feathers of the Oo (Acrulocercus nobilis). Band of the same yellow feathers around the entire lower border. Upper border and the two front margins have the base color of the ground (red), alternating with tufts of black feathers.</p>
<p>Accompanying this cape is a cylindrical boa of yellow feathers or lei to be worn on the head [number for feather lei is E128386-1]. 23" long.</p>
<p>This is apparently the cape numbered 43 in Brigham's "Hawaiian Feather Work" (Bishop Mus. Mem. 1, p. 68 and fig. 84)." `Ahu`ula, feathered cape, olona fiber (Touchardia latifolia), feathers from `i`iwi (Vestiaria coccinea) and `o`o (Moho nobilis).</p>
<p>Object was on display in National Museum of Natural History exhibit "Na Mea Makamae o Hawai'i - Hawaiian Treasures", 2004-2005.</p>
<div>
<div>The object link: </div>
</div>
<div><a href="https://womenshistory.si.edu/object/feather-cape%3Anmnhanthropology_8334997">https://womenshistory.si.edu/object/feather-cape%3Anmnhanthropology_8334997</a></div>
Smithsonian Photographic Services
Mrs. Elizabeth L C. Dixon
1837
Mrs. Clementine Dixon Welling
CC BY 4.0 DEED
LENGTH - OBJECT: 38 cm WIDTH - OBJECT: 74 cm 168 cm
English
Object
ACCESSION NUMBER: 019116 USNM NUMBER: E128386-0
<span>Hawaii, United States, Polynesia</span>
<span>1894 Smithsonian Ephemera by Tiffany </span>
Dr. James Clarke Welling 1825-1894
Leather bound folder given to the <span>widow and family of James Clarke Welling, with</span> a handwritten <span> acknowledgment by the Smithsonian Regents to honor of the death of their esteemed colleague in remembrance of his contributions during his lifetime to the Smithsonian and as citizen of Washington, D.C. </span>
Louis Comfort Tiffany Company
Dr. James Clarke Welling
1894 to present
Mrs. Clementine Dixon Welling
CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
14” x 17” x 3/4”
-Eng
#637-2021
1799 Letter from Geo Washington to Wm Thornton
Washington, George, 1732-1799--Employees
<p>On October 9, 1799 President <span>George Washington wrote a letter to William Thornton asking him to show the City of Washington to Col. John Walker (1744–1809) </span>and <span>Hugh Nelson (1768–1836), son of Gov. Thomas Nelson (1738–1789), who had just married Eliza Kinloch (1781–1834), the granddaughter of Col. John Walker (1744–1809), the son of Washington’s old friend, Thomas Walker (1715–1794). Thornton was to show them around since Mr. White, District of Columbia commissioner, Alexander White was not available. </span></p>
<p>Provenance: The letter from George Washington <span>To William Thornton is in the </span>Dixon-Welling <span>collection at Connecticut Historical Society</span>. How did the family acquire this letter?</p>
<p>Possibly the connection may be traced back to the original autograph collector, Elizabeth L. C. <span> </span>Dixon. <span> </span>It is possible she acquired the letter with help from her stepmother, Jane Eudora Kirkpatrick Cogswell (1799-1864), her aunt was Mrs. Margaret Bayard Smith (1777-1844) and close friend of Wm Thornton. – suggested by Caroline Welling Van Deusen (1956-<br /><br /><br />Located at Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, Dixon-Welling Collection, Manuscripts and Ephemera </p>
Washington, George
An Annotated Bibliography of the Dixon-Welling Family Collection at Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
An Annotated Bibliography of the Dixon-Welling Family Collection at Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
1799 Oct 09
Caroline Welling Van Deusen, Project Archivist
CC BY 4.0 DEED
Donation to Connecticut Museum of Culture and History by Miss Elizabeth D. Welling, October 1936
Paper
-Eng
Document
Ms. 46829
1799
1802 Thomas Jefferson’s pecan trees sent to Gen. John Mason
<p>Discovered within our Dixon-Welling family papers at the Connecticut Historical Society is an autograph manuscript dated Nov 22, 1802 from Thomas Jefferson to Gen. John Mason <span>asking </span>acceptance of three peccan trees. Pecan trees..... interesting.</p>
<p>How this autograph was obtained by my family is a whole other discussion. At this time, it is not known.<br /><br />Back to pecan trees. It is known that Thomas Jefferson planted pecan trees at Monticello. Searching Jefferson and pecans I find Jefferson and pecans can be traced to his visit to France, May 1787, where a specific tree today stands 30 meters high and 4.5 meters around at the Chateau Carbonnieux near Bordeaux. It is known as the “Jefferson Pecan” and there is a fascinating initiative underway associated with planting of Jefferson pecan trees around France. To learn more:<a href="https://pacanierjeffersonpecan.com/thomas-jeffersons-pecan/">https://pacanierjeffersonpecan.com/thomas-jeffersons-pecan/</a></p>
President Thomas Jefferson
An Annotated Bibliography of the Dixon-Welling Family Collection at Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
November 22, 1802
Caroline Welling Van Deusen, Project Archivist
CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
En-
Text
Manuscript collection No. 46865
1840 Wedding Dress Worn by Elizabeth L.C. Dixon
Wadsworth Athenaeum Textiles Collection -- lost items
Wedding dress worn on October 1, 1840 by Elizabeth L. C. Dixon on the day of her marriage to James Dixon, Esq. She wore it again in 1842 at her presentation to King Louis Phillippe of France, in Italy when she met Pope Gregory XVI and in 1846 when she met President James Polk; as mentioned in 'Diary of Elizabeth Dixon'; White House History, Issue 33.
The dress was made of cream white satin elaborately embroidered in white on bottom and front in Chinese style with low neck, short sleeves, fitted and boned and sewed onto full skirt.
In 1945, Miss Elizabeth Dixon Welling, granddaughter of Elizabeth L.C. Dixon loaned the dress to Wadsworth Atheneum for an exhibit: 'The Costume Collection in the Wadsworth Atheneum', Dec 14, 1946 to Feb 23, 1947.
In 2010 the niece of Miss Welling requested to see the Wedding Dress, and the Wadsworth Atheneum staff confirmed the dress associated with accession number: 1946.375-377 is no longer in the Wadsworth Atheneum collections and staff cannot confirm where it is, when and if it was deaccessioned or sold at auction.
Unknown
1840
Caroline Welling Van Deusen, Project Archivist
CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
-eng
Object
Wadsworth Accession No. 1946.375-377
1840
1861 Inaugural Ball Invitation to Misses Dixon
Miss Elizabeth Dixon Welling 1885-1976
<p><span>"Misses Dixon," being the wife of Connecticut' Republican Senator, James Dixon.</span></p>
<p>with this elaborately-engraved document - printed by the Philp & Solomons; hereby invited to attend President Lincoln's 1861 Inaugural Union Ball.</p>
<p><span>The "Union Ball," began at 10 p.m was held in a temporary ballroom constructed behind Washington’s City Hall called the “white muslin Palace of Aladin.” The ballroom had rooms for dancing, rooms for supper, and dressing rooms located within City Hall, the ladies having commandeered the Common Council chamber, and the gentlemen, the courtroom. The President and Mrs. Lincoln arrived at 11 p.m. - and although Lincoln stayed only a half hour, and Mrs. Lincoln two, a grand time was had by all 2,500 guests.<br /><br />Located at Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, Dixon-Welling Collection, Manuscripts and Ephemera <br /></span></p>
Philp and Solomons, Metropolitan Book Store, Washington D.C.
President Abraham Lincoln
An Annotated Bibliography of the Dixon-Welling Family Collection at Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
1861 March 4
Caroline Welling Van Deusen, Project Archivist
CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
-Eng
Text
1976.21.24
1864 Ivory Notebook
Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc
Small notebook of ivory sheets with writing and silver clasp with writing on each page was inherited from the granddaughter of Elizabeth L. C. Dixon. The notes were various lists of items to remember, one family name "Kirkpatrick" sleigh for New Years. Just like to today, we all need little post it notes to help us remember the minutia
Mrs. Elizabeth L C. Dixon
Rev. Jonathan Cogswell
1864
Mrs. Elizabeth L.C. Dixon
CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Object
1864 Rail Pass to Fairfax Courthouse
Dixon, Elizabeth Lord Cogswell (1819-1871)
Civil War Ephemera 1864 Railway Pass to visit Union troops in Virginia
March 26, 1864 Mrs. Elizabeth L. Dixon carried this pass in order to travel from Washington via rail over the Long Bridge to Fairfax Courthouse Virginia, to visit friends and family stationed at Gen. Mead's headquarters.
Unknown
Private Family Collection
From the Private Family Collection Archives
1864
Mrs. Elizabeth L.C. Dixon
CC BY 4.0 DEED
English
Document
431
Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia
Abraham Lincoln on Ivory
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Pictorial works
Ink and watercolor portrait on oval shaped ivory of Abraham Lincoln attributed to 1860 Cooper Union CDV
Unknown
Mrs. Elizabeth L C. Dixon
1865
Caroline Welling Van Deusen, Project Archivist
CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Object
An oval portrait of J. Dalton on ivory circa 1800
Portrait painting, British
An oval portrait watercolor portrait of an officer in a red uniform, sash bearskin hat with plumme, background is robin's egg blue. Written on verso J Dalton Pinx 1800 J Sillett<br /><br /><div><span></span>
<div>
<p><span>Lost & Found History</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><span>There are countless pieces of history scattered around the world, many of which are often overlooked or forgotten. Today, we are shining a spotlight on a particular piece that has been lost in the annals of time and recently rediscovered: a portrait on Ivory from the private collection of the Dixon-Welling family.</span></p>
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<div>
<p><span>The portrait is a fascinating look into the past, serving as a snapshot of a time and place long gone. Crafted with intricate detail and a keen eye for aesthetics, it is a testament to the artistic skills and cultural sensibilities of its time.</span></p>
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<div>
<p><span>The piece is signed on the back, or verso, with the names 'J Dalton' and 'J Sillett Pinx', and the date '1800'. This provides us with some tantalizing clues about its history and origin. The identity of J. Dalton is unknown, which adds a layer of mystery to the piece. However, we do know that the artist was James Sillett, a British miniaturist who was active during the 18th and 19th centuries.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><span>James Sillett was known for his miniature portraits, which were often painted on ivory. His work is characterized by its meticulous detail and vibrant use of color. Despite the small size of the miniatures, Sillett was able to capture the personality and character of his subjects with remarkable accuracy. The Miniature on Ivory from the Dixon-Welling collection is no exception, demonstrating Sillett's exceptional skill and artistic vision.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><span>Despite its age and the mystery surrounding its creation, the Portrait on Ivory has been preserved in excellent condition. It is currently part of the private collection of Miss Elizabeth Dixon Welling, who has graciously allowed it to be shared with the public. This remarkable piece of history is just one of the many treasures that can be found in private collections around the world.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><span>The Portrait on Ivory is a testament to the power of art and the importance of preserving our historical artifacts. It serves as a reminder of the rich history that surrounds us and the stories that can be found in the most unexpected of places. As we continue to uncover these lost relics, we gain a deeper understanding of our past and the people who lived in it. </span></p>
</div>
</div>
James Sillett (British artist)
Private Family Collection
From the Private Family Collection Archives
1800
Miss Elizabeth Dixon Welling
CC BY 4.0 DEED
Passed from Elizabeth L.C. Dixon to Clementine Dixon Welling to Elizabeth Dixon Welling to Caroline Welling Van Deusen
3" x 2" on ivory
En-
Object
Object-private-portrait-JDalton-JSillett-1800
1800-2023