Skeleton suit and Family Record, 1822
John’s suit, woven and sewn by his mother, might have been saved as a memento of three-year-old John Briggs’s shift from baby gowns to boy’s clothing. But when he died later the same year, saving it became instead an effort to remember John. Its size recalls his body which once filled the garment.
John’s birth and death are noted on the Family Record along with the later birth of another son named John—a common practice at the time.
Linen suit with brass buttons. Linen embroidered with silk thread . DAR Museum 91.269.1-2