American Samplers

The earliest known American sampler was made by Loara Standish of the Plymouth Colony about 1645. By the 1700s, samplers depicting alphabets and numerals were worked by young women to learn the basic needlework skills needed to operate the family household. By the late 1700s and early 1800s, schools or academies for well-to-do young women flourished, and more elaborate pieces with decorative motifs such as verses, flowers, houses, religious, pastoral, and/or mourning scenes were being stitched. The parents of these young women proudly displayed their embroideries as showpieces of their work, talent, and status.

In recent years, samplers have become important in museum collections as representations of early American female education. Many are signed, and some are inscribed with locations and the names of teachers and schools. The emergence of large numbers of these samplers has resulted in much research in diaries, account books, letters, newspaper ads, local histories, and published commentary that is helping to illuminate the lives of women in early America.

Many early samplers do not have the letters “J” and “U” in their alphabets because they were not part of the early Latin alphabet and so the letter “I” was used for “J” and the “V” for “U.” The letter “s” is often replaced with the printers “s” which looks like the modern f.

There are 137 American samplers in the Textile Collection. The first was donated in 1886, the Margaret Dinsmoor sampler. In the 1890s the Copp Collection was received and it contained two samplers—one by Esther Copp and the other by her great niece Phebe Esther Copp. (The Copp Collection is an extensive collection of 18th-and 19th- century household textiles, costume items, furniture, and other pieces belonging to the Copps, a prosperous but frugal Connecticut family.) The earliest dated sampler in the collection was made in 1735 by Lydia Dickman of Boston, Massachusetts.

Block upper-case alphabet all one color. Block lower-case alphabet all one color. Script alphabet all one color, no "J." Numbers 1 through 9. Rows separated by simple geometric crossbands.
Description
Block upper-case alphabet all one color. Block lower-case alphabet all one color. Script alphabet all one color, no "J." Numbers 1 through 9. Rows separated by simple geometric crossbands. At bottom of sampler, three strawberry plants with brown and white seed stitches decorating strawberries. In lower right corner, floral swag with cords and tassels above patterned basket of flowers. Simple geometric border on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, seed. THREAD COUNT: warp 25, weft 24/in.
Inscriptions:
"Adaline Ann Williams Aged 12 Years Done
In The 35th Year Of The Independence Of The
United States Of America July 24th AD 1810.
Bef[s]et with snares on every hand
In lifes uncertain path I stand
Saviour divine diffuse thy light
To guide my doubtful footsteps right
Engage this roving treach'rous heart
Great God to chuse the better part
To scorn the trifles of a day
For joys that none can take away"
Background:
This is probably the Adaline Ann who was born on July 16, 1798, in Hartford, Connecticut, to John and Sarah Powers Williams. She married John Bois Turner on September 25, 1855.
Date made
1810
maker
Williams, Adaline Ann
ID Number
1988.0831.02
accession number
1988.0831
catalog number
1988.0831.02
Three block alphabets of 26 letters. Numbers to 9. Word "Marcellus" appears at end of one alphabet. Sampler worked in black silk with brown cotton used only for small period at ends of rows.
Description
Three block alphabets of 26 letters. Numbers to 9. Word "Marcellus" appears at end of one alphabet. Sampler worked in black silk with brown cotton used only for small period at ends of rows. Border of single row of long-armed cross at top, single row of herringbone on each side, single row of double cross at bottom. Silk thread on cotton ground. STITCHES: cross, long-armed cross, herringbone, eyelet, four-sided, crosslet, double cross. THREAD COUNT: warp 26, weft 26/in.
Inscriptions:
"With ink and pen.
These marks will give.
The lives of men.
To all that live.
Worked by M Cook.
August 1818."
Background:
Mary was born on February 22, 1806, to Daniel and Rebecca Pomeroy Cook in Skaneateles, New York. Daniel served in the Revolutionary War for three months at Saratoga in 1781, and died on August 3, 1806, in Marcellus, New York. Mary stitched her sampler while her family was living in Marcellus. She did not marry, and died on January 30, 1869. She is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York. The sampler descended in the family of her brother, Ira.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1818
maker
Cook, Mary
ID Number
TE.T13201
catalog number
T13201
accession number
250307
One script alphabet; no "J," "O," "T," or "U." Two block alphabets, one of 26 letters; these rows separated by simple crossbands. All lettering on sampler black. Below inscription, tulip, paired flower baskets, and trees.
Description
One script alphabet; no "J," "O," "T," or "U." Two block alphabets, one of 26 letters; these rows separated by simple crossbands. All lettering on sampler black. Below inscription, tulip, paired flower baskets, and trees. Center square outlined by sawtooth band, as outer edge of border. Border of wide geometric flowering vine with pair of small geometric motifs in upper corners and pair of flower baskets in lower corners. All four edges hemstitched. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: satin, cross, eyelet, queen, long-armed cross, hem. THREAD COUNT: warp 30, weft 27/in.
Inscription:
"Amanda Hindf[s]
1818"
Background:
Amanda may have been the daughter of Abraham Hinds or the daughter of David and Hannah Tucker Hinds.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1818
maker
Hinds, Amanda
ID Number
TE.T14663
catalog number
T14663
accession number
279148
Three block alphabets of 26 letters and numbers to 0. Five scattered eyelet stitches and short row of tent and reverse tent. Initials "ID," "ED," MSD," "PED," "RID," and "SWD." Border of simple geometric band on top and two sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground.
Description
Three block alphabets of 26 letters and numbers to 0. Five scattered eyelet stitches and short row of tent and reverse tent. Initials "ID," "ED," MSD," "PED," "RID," and "SWD." Border of simple geometric band on top and two sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, rice, eyelet, crosslet, tent. THREAD COUNT: warp 23, weft 28/in.
Inscription:
"Phebe E 18 16 Downing"
Background:
Phoebe was born on December 23, 1807, to Joseph and Elizabeth Webster Downing in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Since the letters "I" and "J" were interchangeable, the initials "ID" were for her father, "ED" for her mother, "MSD" for her sister Mary S., "PED" for Phoebe, "RID" for brother Richard J., and "SWD" for sister Sarah W. An older brother Wesley R. died before the sampler was made, and another sister Thomazine was born after the sampler was made. Phoebe did not marry and died on August 20, 1849.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1816
maker
Downing, Phoebe E.
ID Number
TE.T17754
catalog number
T17754
accession number
316364
One block alphabet of 26 letters; numbers to 10. Alphabet and numbers colored in groups of two or three. Each word in inscription and each set of initials worked in different color. Flower basket, bird, eight-pointed star, and several flowering plants.
Description
One block alphabet of 26 letters; numbers to 10. Alphabet and numbers colored in groups of two or three. Each word in inscription and each set of initials worked in different color. Flower basket, bird, eight-pointed star, and several flowering plants. Border of simple geometric vine-and-leaf on top and two sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross. THREAD COUNT: warp 24, weft 29/in.
Inscription:
"SARAH YARD IN H
ER SEVENTH YEAR
Y SM MAY
J S MAY GMY JY"
Background:
Sarah was born in 1809 to John and Sarah McKimson Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She married Alexander Cummings in 1836, and they had six children—Mary B., Alfred, Sarah Ellen, Charles Thomas, Alexander M., and John. Alexander was a general in the Union Army during the Civil War, and then governor of the Colorado Territory from 1865 to 1867. He died in Canada, but was buried in Philadelphia. Sarah died in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1887, and is also buried in Philadelphia. The initials on her sampler may be family members, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother Mary Ann Yard, sister Mary Ann Yard, brother George Mickerson Yard, and brother John Yard.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1815-1816
maker
Yard, Sarah
ID Number
TE.H14388
catalog number
H14388
accession number
55589
Three block alphabets of 26 letters. One script alphabet with no "J." Numbers to 12 and to 6. All these rows separated by simple geometric crossbands. One wide crossband, grapevine, worked in free embroidery, with brown guidelines under stitches.
Description
Three block alphabets of 26 letters. One script alphabet with no "J." Numbers to 12 and to 6. All these rows separated by simple geometric crossbands. One wide crossband, grapevine, worked in free embroidery, with brown guidelines under stitches. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, long-armed cross, rice, Algerian eye, queen, outline, stem, satin, gobelin. THREAD COUNT: warp 25, weft 26/in.
Inscriptions:
"Do as you would be done by
Alcinda C: Timberlake, Char
-lestown Virginia 1817."
Background:
Alcinda Timberlake was born about 1803 and married Harfield Timberlake, Jr. on June 18, 1822, in Charlestown, Virginia. Their son Henry Carter Timberlake, born in 1835, taught at Mississippi College. He married Alice Jordan and they named one of their girls Alcinda after his mother. This granddaughter donated her grandmother's sampler. West Virginia became a state in 1863, and Charlestown is now part of West Virginia.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1817
maker
Timberlake, Alcinda C.
ID Number
TE.T13497
catalog number
T13497
accession number
254795
The verse that Mary Eddy included on her sampler was written by an English poet named William Oland (1723-85) around 1763.
Description
The verse that Mary Eddy included on her sampler was written by an English poet named William Oland (1723-85) around 1763. It was probably selected by her teacher, and the verses were generally chosen to express the ideals to which young ladies should aspire to, according to her contemporary society.
“The Contraf[s]t
Virtue alone has that to give,
Which makes it joy to die or live
But vice can only that supply
Which makes it pain to live or die.”
The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 27, weft 32/in. The stitches used are cross, crosslet, tent, Algerian eye, and stem.
Mary Eddy was born on April 16, 1804, to Samuel and his second wife Martha Wheaton Eddy in Providence, Rhode Island. Samuel Eddy’s first wife was Betsy Bucklin. (See Betsy Bucklin’s sampler.) Mary married William Chase (1786-1875) as his second wife on March 15, 1854. They did not have any children.
date made
1816
maker
Eddy, Mary
ID Number
2008.0161.01
catalog number
2008.0161.01
accession number
2008.0161
Lucretia added to her basic marking sampler a decoration of flowering plants, which stand for nature. It is hemstitched on all sides with dark thread.
Description
Lucretia added to her basic marking sampler a decoration of flowering plants, which stand for nature. It is hemstitched on all sides with dark thread. Lucretia included the inscription: “Lucretia M Hand.” The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 32, weft 39/in. The stitches used are: cross, Algerian eye, back, queen, and hem.
Lucretia M. Hand was born on October 7, 1799, in Sag Harbor (Long Island), New York to Jared (1762-) and Beulah Hedges (1769 –1828) Hand. On July 30, 1823, she married, Dr. George Washington Harris of Greenport, Long Island. She died on Long Island in 1863.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1810
maker
Hand, Lucretia M.
ID Number
TE.T14845
catalog number
T14845
accession number
282859
At bottom of the sampler is an unfinished two-story house with two baskets and an urn of flowers, on a ground of straight stitches shaded like Florentine patterns. Margaret Arndt stitched a common proverb that reflected the importance at that time of one’s salvation in Christ.
Description
At bottom of the sampler is an unfinished two-story house with two baskets and an urn of flowers, on a ground of straight stitches shaded like Florentine patterns. Margaret Arndt stitched a common proverb that reflected the importance at that time of one’s salvation in Christ. The inscription reads:

“The LOSE of a FaThEr IS MUSh
BUT The LOZE OF a MOTher IS MOOR
BUT the LOSE OF ChrIST IS SUCh
AS NONe CAN RE STOre
DONe IN MY AELEVe
Nth YeAr OF my
Age the YeAr OF
OUR LOrd ONe ThOUSaNd 1815
Margaret Arndt”
The sampler is stitched with silk and cotton embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 27, weft 29/in. The stitches used are cross, chain, Algerian eye, satin, stem, outline, buttonhole, straight, crosslet, slanted gobelin, and hem.
Margaret Arndt, born ca. 1804 in Pennsylvania, married on June 11, 1833, as the second wife of Henry DeHuff (1794 - 1854). They had six children - Catherine (c.1834-), Jacob A. (c.1836-), Abraham (c.1838-), Anna (1840-), Susannah (c.1845-), and John (c.1848-).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1815
maker
Arndt, Margaret
ID Number
TE.T16418
catalog number
T16418
accession number
304266

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.