Queens County Heritage
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69 Front St., Gagetown, NB, Canada  E5M 1A4
(506) 488-2966 (seasonal) /
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Mrs. Tilley's Tea Party
Lady Alice Tilley / Rachel Belyea / Gertrude Carpenter / Augusta Slipp

Rachel Belyea

Rachel Belyea

Rachel Cox Belyea arrived to the tea party wearing a vibrant blue silk taffeta dress. Rachel was born at Cambridge about 1843, the daughter of Marcus Wellington Cox and Hannah Springer. On 31 January 1867, at her father's residence, she married John MacDonald Belyea (1836-1899) wearing this blue dress. With its form fitting bodice, nipped waist and bell skirt, the dress well illustrates the fashions of the late 1860s.

The massive skirts of the early part of the decade have disappeared, replace with a smaller and more manageable bell shape. The bulk of the skirt has also begun to shift to the back, anticipating the arrival of the bustle in the early 1870s. To gain maximum usage, the dress was worn again and again and may have been altered with the addtion of the black velvet piping, possibly for mourning.

Rachel Belyea
Rachel Belyea Despite her diminutive size, Rachel had at least seven children. In the 1871 Census for Cambridge, Queens County, John and Rachel Belyea were living in the same dwelling as John's parents, Nehemiah Belyea and Lydia Earl MacDonald. Census returns show that they owned 23 sheep, gathered 100 pounds of wool and wove 83 yards of homespun. In addition, they cut 55 cord of stovewood, and had one boat that they used to fish 1 barrel of gaspereau. In the same census, at the home of Rachel's father, Marcus Wellington Cox and step-mother Elizabeth Adams Golding, they owned 14 sheep, gathered 70 pounds of wool and wove 75 yards of homespun. Rachel Cox Belyea died in Saint John, 25 March 1937.

 

Home / Hours, Fees, & Routes   / Calendar of Events & Exhibitions / Links

69 Front St., Gagetown, NB, Canada  E5M 1A4
(506) 488-2966 (seasonal) /
info@queenscountyheritage.com