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.

Family genealogy is centered above pair of weeping willow trees. At sides of sampler, vines with roses and buds twist around columns and continue upward forming an arch at top. One death record and worker's name at bottom, below weeping willow trees.
Description
Family genealogy is centered above pair of weeping willow trees. At sides of sampler, vines with roses and buds twist around columns and continue upward forming an arch at top. One death record and worker's name at bottom, below weeping willow trees. Brown guidelines under all free embroidery. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: four-sided, crosslet, cross, satin, straight, chain, stem. THREAD COUNT: warp 28, weft 31/in.
Inscriptions:
"GENEALOGY
Simeon Skillin born Cape Elizabeth, Me May 31 1787.
Nancy Adams born Castine, Me Aug 26, 1789.
Married Aug 16 1812.
OFFSPRING
Edward P Skillin born Portland Me April. 28 1813.
Charles P Skillin born Portland Me Aug 18 1814.
George W Skillin born Portland Me Dec 18 1816.
Simeon Skillin born Portland Me May 12 1818.
Robert Skillin born Portland Me Oct 31 1819.
Sarah A Skillin born Portland Me Jun 29 1821.
Silas B Skillin born Portland Me Oct 29 1822.
Oliver P Skillin born Portland Me May 19 1824.
Eliza M Skillin born Portland Me Dec 25 1826.
Nancy P Skillin born Portland Me Feb 25 1829.
Silas B Skillin born Portland Me Aug 26 1830.
Mary Skillin born Portland Me July 17 1831.
Deaths
Silas B Skillin died
APr. 25, 1826.
By Sarah A Skillin
1835."
Background:
Sarah Adams was born on June 29, 1821, to Simeon and Nancy Adams Skillin in Portland, Maine. Sarah married Smith C. Hadlock, a fisherman, on July 14, 1843, and died in Maine on January 8, 1889. They had eight children—Harriet A., Emma C., Nancy A., Samuel, Oliver E., Cyrena A., Henry B., and Sarah G.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1835
associated dates
1982-12-02
maker
Skillin, Sarah A.
ID Number
1983.0617.03
catalog number
1983.0617.03
accession number
1983.0617
At center, an inscribed monument with stepped top surmounted by sphere.
Description
At center, an inscribed monument with stepped top surmounted by sphere. Behind monument, weeping willow tree with crooked trunk; above monument and tree are five sprays of flowers, including roses, rosebuds, tulips, carnations, and star-flowers, with leaves; two sprays are tied with blue bows. At lower corners, two weeping willow trees that, like the monument, stand on ground of French knots. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: satin, straight, split, French knot, stem, cross, crosslet. THREAD COUNT: warp 28, weft 26/in.
Inscriptions:
"To the memory of
Guni Goodale who
was born March 9th
1780
and departed this life
Jan 27th 1832 aged 52.
There remaineth there-
fore a rest to the peo-
ple of God.
Amanda F. Goodale 1832."
Background:
Amanda F. Goodale was born ca. 1818 to Guni (1780-1832) and Ann (1776-1864) Goodale in Glastonbury, Connecticut. On July 11, 1848, she was married to Henry Magill (1809-1892), by Rev. Charles R. Fisher. Henry was a farmer. Ann Goodale is living with Henry and Amanda in the 1850 census. Amanda died February 4, 1892 in Windsor, Connecticut.
Her sampler was probably worked at Miss Cornwall’s school in Glastonbury, Connecticut. All the motifs on her sampler can be found on other samplers worked at Miss Cornwall’s school.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1832
associated dates
1982-12-02
maker
Goodale, Amanda F.
ID Number
1983.0617.04
catalog number
1983.0617.04
accession number
1983.0617
Below family record, pyramidal monument (memorial to deceased sister) flanked by rosebushes and butterflies, under weeping willow tree, on ground-line worked in "crinkled" silk. To left of monument, verse in square outline, all lettering black.
Description
Below family record, pyramidal monument (memorial to deceased sister) flanked by rosebushes and butterflies, under weeping willow tree, on ground-line worked in "crinkled" silk. To left of monument, verse in square outline, all lettering black. Border of geometric flowering vine on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, satin, stem. THREAD COUNT: warp 28, weft 31/in.
Inscriptions:
"A Family Reccord
Nathaniel and Margaret Pof[s]ey
The Parent's of thof[s]e Children
SoPhia Maria Pof[s]ey born Oct 8th 1813
Fredrick Jerome Pof[s]ey born Feb 28 1815
Margaret Pof[s]ey born Dec 19th 1816
John Pittf[s] Pof[s]ey born Oct 12 1818
Mary Jane Pof[s]ey born Dec 3d 1820
Hester Ann Pof[s]ey born Dec 28 1822
Nathaniel Boliver Pof[s]ey born April 11 1827
Henry Clay Pof[s]ey born Aug 14 1829"
To left of monument in square:
"Weep not my frien
df[s]. af[s] you paff[ss] by.
af[s] you are now. f[s]o
once Waf[s] I. af[s] i
am now. So you
muf[s]t be. prepare
to meet me in
Eternity."
Embroidered on the monument are the following words:
"sacred
to The -
Memory of
Margaret Posey
Who died Feb 2
A.D. 1824 aged 8 YS
1 Month and 14 days
Below monument:
"Hester. Ann. Poseyf[s] Sampler Finished in the 15.th
year of her age. A.D. 1837."
Background:
Hester was born on December 28, 1822, to Nathaniel and Margaret Posey in Baltimore, MD. Nathaniel and Margaret Kemp were married on October 9, 1812, in Frederick, Maryland. Hester was a teacher and did not marry. She died November 7, 1916 in Frederick, MD.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1837
maker
Posey, Hester Ann
ID Number
TE.E365238
catalog number
E365238.000
accession number
124238
Five block alphabets of 26 letters, numbers to 14. Each row of alphabets and numbers different color. All these rows separated by narrow geometric crossbands. Border of geometric strawberry vine and single row of herringbone stitch on all four sides.
Description
Five block alphabets of 26 letters, numbers to 14. Each row of alphabets and numbers different color. All these rows separated by narrow geometric crossbands. Border of geometric strawberry vine and single row of herringbone stitch on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, long-armed cross, satin, herringbone, eyelet, four-sided, rice, queen, hem. THREAD COUNT: warp 28, weft 28/in.
Inscriptions:
"EDUCATION
Youth like f[s]oftened Wax, with Eaf[s]e will take
Thof[s]e Images that firf[s]t impref[s]sions make.
If thof[s]e are fair, their Actions will be bright,
If foul, they'll clouded be with Shades of Night.
Ann Louisa Ghequiere [f]inished in her 9th year."
Background:
Ann Louisa was born about 1792 to Charles and Harriet Halley Ghequiere in Baltimore, Maryland. She married Dr. Martin Fenwick of West River, Maryland, on August 21, 1815, at St. Peter Pro-Cathedral in Baltimore, Maryland. The marriage was performed by Archbishop John Carroll, with whom her father had been friendly for many years. They had four children—;Harriet, Louisa Claire, Chloe, and Henry. Ann Louisa died on February 22, 1864 in West River.
Location
Currently on loan
Date made
1799
Associated Name
Ghequiere, Ann Louisa
maker
Chequiere, Ann Louisa
ID Number
TE.T14210
catalog number
T14210
accession number
59228

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