Saunders Lindeke Family
Mary Proal (Mrs. Edward N.) Saunders, was born in 1852 in Louisville, Kentucky. She settled in St. Paul in 1870 with her husband, who was an associate of James J. Hill in forming the Northwestern Fuel Company to ship coal via the Great Lakes.
Her daughter, Caroline Saunders (Mrs. Albert W.) Lindeke of St. Paul, was a 1901 graduate of Smith College. She described her mother as an "intelligent gentlewoman" active in St. Paul community affairs. Caroline's husband became president of his father's St. Paul dry goods business - Lindeke, Warner and Schurmeier.
Mrs. Saunders and Mrs. Lindeke's extensive wardrobes are well represented in this collection. Stunning gowns from at least six different prominent Twin Cities' dressmakers date from the 1870s to early 1900s.
Louise Lindeke Weyerhaeuser diaries record her shopping activities including visits to local dressmakers, see Weyerhaeuser family papers at the Minnesota Historical Society.
See also the Proal and Saunders families papers.
Cape 
Two-piece pink and grey taffeta dress 
Black lace and velvet evening gown 
Cape