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Re: Baptism Gowns in the 1860s



Actually my wife is the archivist who plugged into the list--and I must say
there seems to be a lot of extraneous stuff cluttering up the basic enquiry.
Do archivists know about editing? (speaking as one who has, for my sins,
taught expository writing more than once).  I am a retired parson with some
knowledge of American religious history, and what I have retained in the
answers raise the essential issues: there is a considerable
liturgical/doctrinal distinction between those Protestants who practice
"Believer's Baptism" or baptising only those of sufficient maturity to request
the rite and understand what they are asking for (usually members of the
various Baptist groups or the Disciples of Christ/Christian Churches) and
those for whom it is [ideally] a rite performed early in life with a
complementary rite of confirmation and admission to church membership upon
attaining maturity.  In the "Believer's Baptism" tradition, especially on the
frontier, running water is desirable (if not mandatory), so that there are
many instances of people having to break the ice in mid-winter to baptise
candidates who wished it and for whom it was inexpedient to wait until more
clement weather, and generally the candidate wore a voluminous white gown with
obvious symbolism as a new member of God's elect--and also for decency's sake
(in the pre-bathing suit era).  If occasion prevented such a nicety, the
candidate would be baptised in the clothes he wore.
Now as to an eight or ten year old child, one must speculate: this does not
constitute typical child baptism where the parents and godparents/sponsors are
surrogates in requesting the rite for the child, but it is almost certainly
NOT in the Believer's Baptism tradition, as the child is of immature years to
be considered competent to request the rite.  If there are recorded instances
of such baptisms, the logical inference is that the children were unable to
receive the rite as infants--a not unusual situation on the frontier where
many people did not live near a church with a settled minister--and this is
the first opportunity for them to experience it, and their ecclesiastical
tradition requires the rite as soon as possible after infancy.  I would doubt
there would be a larger version of an infant's christening gown, as these
often quite elaborate (like wedding gowns, this was for both a solemn and
festive occasion), were routinely handed down from one child in the family to
the next, and even today are preserved carefully for intergenerational use in
families (after all, they are used infrequently and for a short period of time
each time they are used).  In fact, if the suggested hypothesis holds, and the
child's baptism is the result of delayed opportunity, given the size of
families 150 years ago, it is likely that there would be several children in
the same family to be baptised at the same time and place.  There might be a
smaller version of the adult white gown used in the Believer's Baptism
practice for modesty's sake, but that doesn't seem logical, as again children
would not be baptised in that tradition.  Perhaps the gown would simply be a
clean nightshirt of the sort worn by both sexes.
JGGKahnSr

>> >         -- What faith tradition are we speaking of? This would
>> >            determine whether immersion baptism or the dribble-
>> >            of-water over the forehead of a child-in-arms would be
>> >            the sacramental means, which in turn alters the
>> >            clothing style.
>> >
>> >
>> > > ----------
>> > > From:         Angela Curran[SMTP:acurran@AAFP.ORG]
>> > > Reply To:     Archives & Archivists
>> > > Sent:         Wednesday, September 13, 2000 6:42 AM
>> > > To:   ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
>> > > Subject:      Baptism Gowns in the 1860s
>> > >
>> > > I have a friend who has asked for help to find out what a small child
>> > > (6-8) would have worn while getting baptized in the 1860s in the
>> Plains.
>> > > (Specifically, she said 1869 in Kansas.)  My hunch is that a child's
>> dress
>> > > would have been similar to an infant's christening gown, just bigger,
>> but
>> > > I can't find anything to confirm that.  One problem is that infant
>> gowns
>> > > are referred to frequently, but nothing for slightly older children.
>> > >
>> > > Anyone have any ideas?  I also wonder whether it would depend on the
>> > > particular church or denomination.
>> > >
>> > > Any help would be appreciated.
>> > >
>> > > Angela Curran
>> > > Archives for Family Practice
>> > > 11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway
>> > > Leawood, KS 66211
>> > > (913) 906-6000, ext. 4420
>> > > (913) 906-6095 FAX
>> > > acurran@aafp.org
>

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