Family’s baptism gown worn by 32 babies through 3 generations

Click here for updates on this story

    ST. LOUIS (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) — Some families attract long traditions and happy coincidences.

The Jacksons seem to be one of those families.

Emma Ortbals Werner sewed the baptismal gown for her first grandchild, Ann, in 1951.

The long white christening gown was trimmed with simple lace around the neckline and sleeves with a border along the bottom. Her daughter, Alice Jackson, embroidered Ann’s name into the border.

Alice and Mark Jackson went on to have nine more children — each of whom wore the same gown at their christenings.

By the time the youngest child had worn it, grandchildren from the eldest children weren’t far behind. The dress naturally got passed down to them.

“It was just kind of a given, I suppose,” said Mary O’Brien, the fifth in the family to wear the gown. Mark and Alice Jackson moved from St. Louis to Webster Groves after their first child was born, and the rest of the kids grew up there. They all attended Catholic schools. Most of them have stayed in the St. Louis area and raised their own families here.

Ann Paradoski, now 69 and still in Webster Groves, who had been first to wear it said her husband wasn’t too thrilled with their son wearing a dress at his christening (although a gown is traditional), but he gave in.

Alice Jackson kept adding names to the border of the gown with each additional child who wore it. When a few of the names began repeating in the next generation, she added the last name.

A couple of times, the birth of twins presented a dilemma.

Patty Gaines, 61, who also wore the family gown, said it was a difficult decision when she had twins — a boy and a girl. Her son ended up wearing the family dress because it fit him better. Her daughter wore the original slip that went under the gown and a dress her aunt had sewn years before.

There hasn’t been any pressure for babies to wear the gown, and over the years, a few have opted out. Some chose to have their sons wear an outfit with little pants.

Mark Jackson, 68, of Kirkwood, said his wife is an exceptional seamstress and wanted to make their children’s baptism gown herself. Their first three children wore that gown. Babies number four and five ended up being twins.

The Jackson family gown came in handy, again.

Fortunately, none of the babies has had any sort of accident in the dress.

“The biggest thing has been keeping it white,” Paradoski said. It’s getting more frail as the years go by.

Mary O’Brien has become the de facto keeper of the dress. She’s hoping it will make it to another generation. Incidentally, O’Brien wore her mother’s wedding dress from 1950 when she got married in 1980. Her grandmother had sewn that, too. She’s hanging onto in the hopes that it might get another wear by a niece in the future.

O’Brien’s parents, Mark and Alice Jackson, discovered a surprising connection shortly before they got married. They had brought their baptismal certificates to their meeting with the priest before the wedding.

It turned out that both of them were baptized at St. Margaret of Scotland church, even though they grew up in different parts of town. Not only that, they had been baptized during the same ceremony on the same day.

They loved telling that story during their 62 years of marriage.

Alice Jackson died in 2016, and her husband passed away a year later.

In January, their great-granddaughter Sophia Lauber became the 32nd baby in the family to wear the gown made by her great-great grandmother. Her father, Andy Lauber, had worn it before her, and his mom, Ellen, had worn it before him.

Sophia’s baptism took place in January at the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.

The church is in Jackson Square.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.