Highlights Archives
When Death Comes Calling
Villa Louis will explore the fascinating topic of 19th-century death and mourning customs during the historic Victorian house museum's annual evening lamplight tours on Saturday, October 6. Guides will lead visitors on a 90-minute tour of the Villa Louis grounds and buildings, where they will encounter six dramatic vignettes as told by the spirits of St. Feriole Island — characters drawn from the island's history who share stories about death and mourning in the 1800s.
The first sketch will depict an encounter with an 1820s fur trader. Visitors will find the trader lamenting the loss of his Native American wife's young nephew, highlighting the Métis culture of 1820s Prairie du Chien. A coffin has been prepared for the child, illustrating how Euro-American customs were incorporated into traditional Dakota burial rituals.
Visitors will next be led to the Villa Louis lawn, where frontier Fort Crawford stood in the 1830s. Here they will meet Sgt. O'Slusser who has left a small detachment searching for yet another army deserter. At hand is a case of over-zealous military discipline. The sergeant talks about the issues of boredom and punishment in the frontier army, a topic that leads him to recall the grizzly tale of the vengeful murder of Sgt. Coffin by his assassin Private Beckett.
Next visitors will move on to the authentically restored Villa Louis mansion complex for a series of skits detailing Victorian mourning customs as experienced by the Dousman family. The focus of these vignettes will be the death of beloved Dousman family housekeeper Penelope McLeod, who died in 1896 at the age of 80. Her wake will take place in the Villa Louis, furnished according to original photographs of a Dousman family wake preserved in the Villa Louis archives.
As visitors continue upstairs, they will find seamstresses altering Dousman family clothing for Miss McLeod's upcoming funeral and the prescribed period of mourning that will follow. Also on display will be examples of mourning jewelry, black-bordered handkerchiefs, and other death-related mementos.
The final stop on the guided tour will be the spacious Villa Louis kitchen, where the Dousman cook will be baking traditional Victorian funeral biscuits and pies given to guests paying their last respects to Miss McLeod.
Tours will run from 5 to 8 p.m. Visitors should plan on spending an hour and a half at the site. Tickets can be purchased at the Villa Louis Visitor Center upon arrival. Flashlights are recommended. For complete details, including admission fees, an area map, distances from nearby cities and other details, visit the Villa Louis visitor information page.
:: Posted October 1, 2007
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