Mary's Move from the White House

[Donna McCreary]

Laurie, that is a good question about Mary have been laid to rest in a shroud. However, I think she was buried in a dress. I'm not an expert on Victorian funeral customs, but being buried in a silk shroud seems inappropiate. During this era, a 'white funeral' was considered one of the highest forms of mourning. Whe Queen Victoria passed, she was given a white funeral.

The Old Clothing Scandal was in 1867 - prior to Mary's two trips to Europe where she continued to shop and collect. My book has a section explaining what was displayed, what was returned, what was sold. (see page 127 - 135) Few of her things sold.

I've come to the conclusion that we will never know how many trunks of belongings Mary actually owned. Even her family members offered different accounts of Mary's belongings. Mary's sister Ann wrote a letter to their half-sister Emilie Todd Helm stating that Mary "stays in her room mends her dresses and unpacks her trunks 36 in number and wants to be considered an invalid . . . " Mary Brown, the granddaughter of Elizabeth Edwards, recalled there were 64 trunks in an upstairs room. (same book, page 149)

The mystery prevails.