A recent situation at Wiscasset Middle High School brings to mind a similar story of something that happened right here in Lincoln County two centuries ago. Earlier this month, local newspapers reported that students had been turned away from a school dance due to clothing that exposed their shoulders. Newcastle's Nancy Chase Donnell once met the same fate as some WMHS students and was turned away from a gathering because she had been seen wearing the latest fashion – one that exposed her shoulders.

 

Nancy Chase was born in Sheepscot Village in January 1804. She married Kingsbury Donnell in 1822 and they farmed and raised their family in Newcastle, where they are both buried in Sheepscot Cemetery. Tradition holds that sometime when Maine was still a young state and Nancy was a young woman, probably in the 1820s, she wore a beautiful shell-pink ball gown with a wide neck and full gigot sleeves, the height of fashion, to a community gathering. The historical record is sparse when it comes to details of this story, but we know that the second floor of Washington Hotel in Wiscasset was a popular spot for many grand parties of the early 1800s. Perhaps it was where Nancy wore her new gown. 

 

While at the party, Nancy was seen by a church deacon who judged her exposed shoulders as problematic. Later the deacon remembered what he considered an impropriety and barred her from attending church on Sunday morning. The experience was something Nancy never forgot and the story was passed down, along with the dress, for about 200 years. When the dress was later donated to Lincoln County Historical Association, it came along with the account of Nancy's experience being turned away from church for having worn this garment.

 

LCHA’s collection now holds Nancy's dress and strives to preserve this item and the many others that help tell our community's history. It is not uncommon to discover that the stories of our past are relevant to our lives today.