Bailly Homestead Artifact on Display for the First Time

Date: July 7, 2016

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the Westchester Township History Museum are excited to announce a new arrival to The Bailly Family and Homestead exhibit at the Westchester Township History Museum.  A sampler stitched in 1821 by Joseph and Marie Bailly's daughter, Rose, is on public display for the first time.  It can be seen with other Bailly family artifacts at the museum located at 700 W. Porter Avenue, Chesterton.

Rose Bailly lived at the Bailly Homestead longer than any of Joseph and Marie's other children. After her husband, Francis Howe, died in 1850 Rose and her two daughters returned to Porter County to live with Marie.  Rose remained at the Bailly Homestead until her death in 1890.

The sampler was part of the Bailly/Howe estate auctioned in 1918 after Frances Howe's death.  It was purchased by John O. Bowers who donated the sampler, and other Bailly and Howe family treasures, to the National Lakeshore in 1980.

When the National Lakeshore received the sampler it was secured with nails to a small wooden frame, and had extensive insect damage.  Although the National Lakeshore investigated conservation work in the 1980s no textile conservator was available at that time.

More than thirty years later the National Lakeshore, with a financial gift from the Friends of Indiana Dunes, sent the sampler to the National Park Service's Harper's Ferry Center in West Virginia for conservation work where much of the previous damage was fixed, and the sampler was treated and rehoused to preserve it for the enjoyment of future generations.

The Bailly Family and Homestead exhibit will be open to the public through October 2 at the museum.

The Westchester Township History Museum, a cultural and educational service of Westchester Public Library, is housed in the Brown Mansion, 700 W. Porter Avenue, Chesterton.  The museum is open to the public Wednesday – Sunday, 1 – 5 p.m.  Groups may make reservations for tours by calling the museum at 219-983-9715.

For more information on this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, call 219-395-1882 or check the park's website at www.nps.gov/indu.