Walking Down the Aisle

Shortly before beginning my position as Collections Manager at Minnetrista, I got married. With all of those festivities still on my mind, some of the first items that stood out to me in our collections were the wedding gowns from the Ball family. It was even more exciting when I discovered that I got married on the same day as one of the Ball brides featured below! Though my wedding dress was not as glamorous as those of the Ball’s, I love comparing it to the trends and styles of the past.

The oldest Ball wedding dress in our collection is that worn by Elizabeth “Bessie” Wolfe Brady for her marriage to Frank Clayton Ball. Frank met Bessie while he and his younger brother George Alexander Ball were looking into business opportunities in Muncie. Bessie was quite the catch for the up-and-coming businessman. Her brother Arthur Brady was the current mayor of Muncie, and her grandfather John Brady had been the first. Her father Thomas Jefferson Brady had attained the rank of brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War and later became the Second Assistant Postmaster General. Her sister Winifred Brady would later marry the renowned painter J. Ottis Adams in 1898. By marrying into this prominent local family, Frank C. Ball cemented the Ball brothers’ business ties to Muncie.

The wedding took place on November 1, 1893 at the house on East Adams Street that Frank had rented as their first home. Nearly 100 guests attended what The Muncie News called “one of the most graceful and pretty weddings that ever figured in the social annals of Muncie…” (Nov. 2, 1893). Bessie was the picture of elegance in this two-piece ivory silk wedding gown made in Fort Wayne, IN.

Though we only have one dress from the wedding of a Ball brother in our collection, we do have several dresses from the next generation of Ball children. Frank and Bessie’s grandsons David T. Owsley and Frank A. Bracken donated their mothers’ wedding gowns to Minnetrista in 1997 and 2003, respectively.

The wedding that attracted the most national attention of all the Ball children was that of Lucina “Lucy” Ball and Col. Alvin Mansfield Owsley of Dallas, TX. Owsley was a decorated WWI veteran and the national commander of the American Legion. The couple met while Owsley was in Muncie visiting the local Legion post, and they were engaged after a long-distance courtship. The wedding took place on May 16, 1925 in the north music room at Frank and Bessie Ball’s home, Minnetrista. The Muncie Evening Press described it as “one of the leading events of the social season in the Midwest and hundreds of friends from New York, Chicago, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Dallas, and other large social centers attended.”

Lucy wanted a romantic candlelit evening wedding, but Mother Nature had other plans. A severe storm hit Muncie that day, and the power went out across town. The family found as many candles as they could to light the space, but it was still too dark. Frank had an idea, and the men pushed two cars up the front steps and onto the porch so they could shine the headlights through the windows of the music room. Despite the last-minute challenge, the wedding was a success. Lucy looked lovely in this ivory satin gown with the pearl-beaded fern and rosebud design.

Frank and Bessie’s daughter Rosemary “Rosie” Wright Ball married Alexander “Alec” McKnight Bracken of Muncie on July 14, 1932. Much like her sister Lucy’s wedding, Rosie chose to have an evening ceremony in the music room at Minnetrista. With 250 guests in attendance, the Muncie Evening Press described the wedding as the “climax of the summer social season.” Alec wrote of the day in his journal, calling it “perfectly beautiful” with the only downfall being that “it was terribly hot.” Rosie looked radiant in this floor-length ivory silk wedding gown made in New York, NY.

One of our more recent donations is the gown worn by Adelia “Diggie” Swift Ball, daughter of Edmund B. and Bertha C. Ball. Diggie married Lt. Robert Melvin Morris on January 20, 1932 at St. John’s Universalist Church in Muncie. This wedding took many by surprise, and only close family and friends were invited to the ceremony. The reception was held at Nebosham, home of Bertha and the late E. B. Ball. Diggie looked divine in this cowl-necked, ivory satin gown and Carrickmacross lace veil. The veil would later be worn by all three of Diggie’s daughters, as well as her granddaughter Patty Pelizzari. Patty donated Diggie’s wedding gown to Minnetrista in 2021.

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