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.

Two block alphabets. Upper-case alphabet has 26 letters; lower-case alphabet has no "J." One script alphabet with no "J" or "U." Numbers 1 through 14. Border of a vine with triangular flowers or leaves. Silk embroidery thread on linsey-woolsey; blue linen warp, tan wool weft.
Description
Two block alphabets. Upper-case alphabet has 26 letters; lower-case alphabet has no "J." One script alphabet with no "J" or "U." Numbers 1 through 14. Border of a vine with triangular flowers or leaves. Silk embroidery thread on linsey-woolsey; blue linen warp, tan wool weft. STITCHES: cross, Algerian eye, hem. THREAD COUNT: warp 27, weft 26/in.
Inscription:
"Embroidry [sic] decks
The canvas round
And yields a pleasing view
So virtue tends
to deck the mind
and form its blisful [sic] state
Mary W Tyler aged 12 years
Background:
This may have been made by Mary Welles Tyler, born on April 2, 1792, to Nathan and Nancy Tyler, or by Mary Whitwell Tyler, born on June 23, 1798, to Royall II and Mary Tyler.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1775-1825
maker
Tyler, Mary W.
ID Number
1991.0764.01
catalog number
1991.0764.01
accession number
1991.0764
Six block alphabets. One double of 26 letters. Numbers through 13. Alphabets and numbers colored in pairs or groups with all rows separated by simple geometric crossbands. No border. Cotton thread on cotton ground.
Description
Six block alphabets. One double of 26 letters. Numbers through 13. Alphabets and numbers colored in pairs or groups with all rows separated by simple geometric crossbands. No border. Cotton thread on cotton ground. STITCHES: cross, four-sided, double cross, rice, Algerian eye, crosslet. THREAD COUNT: warp 25, weft 25/in.
Inscription:
"Anna Leadbeater
to her Father
8 mo 28th
1852.
Age 10"
Background:
Anna was born on October 2, 1842, to John and Mary P. Stabler Leadbeater in Alexandria, Virginia. John Leadbeater was the owner of the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary in Alexandria, which today is an apothecary museum. She married Henry C. Slaymaker, a Civil War veteran, on November 6, 1866, and they had three children—Isabel, Henry C. Jr., and Frank. Henry Sr. died of consumption on February 28, 1880, and Anna died on February 15, 1906.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1852
maker
Leadbeater, Anna
ID Number
TE.T12612
catalog number
T12612
accession number
235642
Embroidered sampler worked in 1830 by 11-year old Mary Harrison of Alexandria, Virginia. In upper half of sampler, flanking verses, flowering plant with birds flying overhead, and lady and gentleman under tree.
Description
Embroidered sampler worked in 1830 by 11-year old Mary Harrison of Alexandria, Virginia. In upper half of sampler, flanking verses, flowering plant with birds flying overhead, and lady and gentleman under tree. Man wears short flared coat and carries cane; lady wears elaborate hat, long-sleeved dress, and pantalettes, and carries small bag with long ribbon straps and what appears to be furled parasol. In lower half, large flat-roofed building with tall windows and columns. On flat roof recessed second story also flat-roofed but with large semicircular window. Building stands on lawn (or hill) flanked by trees, urns of flowers, and spotted dog. Border of geometric strawberry vine on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, queen, satin, double cross, four-sided, chain, stem. THREAD COUNT: warp 29, weft 31/in.
Inscriptions:
"What iS the blooming fair
And tincture of the Skin
to Peace of mind from care
And harmony within
Sickness and age will blaSt
All outward charmeS away
Virtue will Sooth at last
in deathS tremendiouS day
See the Kind Shepherd JeSuS StandS
with all engaging charmeS
Hark how he calls his tender lambs
And folds them in his arms
Mary Harrison Aged Eleven Years
Alexandria July 1830"
Background:
Mary Harrison was born September 18, 1818, to John and Elizabeth Carlin Harrison of Alexandria, Virginia She married December 28, 1842, Isaac Kell (1814-1864). She died June 30, 1906.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1830
maker
Harrison, Mary
ID Number
TE.T14710
catalog number
T14710
accession number
280469
This sampler features six block alphabets: five of 26 letters and one double. All the rows are separated by simple geometric crossbands.
Description
This sampler features six block alphabets: five of 26 letters and one double. All the rows are separated by simple geometric crossbands. Mary Stabler’s sampler is an example of a marking sampler that consisted predominately of alphabets and numbers, and was usually the first sampler a young lady stitched. Alphabets were used to mark linens for identification. Mary included the inscription:

“Mary P Stabler’s
Work
Aged 11 Alexandria”
The sampler is stitched with silk and cotton embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 28, weft 29/in. The stitches used are: cross, crosslet, four-sided, double cross, rice, Algerian eye, queen, and herringbone.
Mary Pleasants Stabler was born on January 30, 1809, to Edward and Mary Hartshorne Stabler in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1835 she married John Leadbeater and they had eight children - Edward S., Lucy, Mary G., Alice, Anna, Alice, William, and Thomas. Mary died on August 9, 1863. See her daughter Anna Leadbeater’s samplers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1819-1821
maker
Stabler, Mary P.
ID Number
TE.T12610
catalog number
T12610
accession number
235642

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