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.

Flowers, people, building with fence, crossbands, inscriptions. Top and sides have floral border with eight-pointed star at center top.
Description
Flowers, people, building with fence, crossbands, inscriptions. Top and sides have floral border with eight-pointed star at center top. German alphabet of capitals, no "J." Script alphabet of capitals, no "J." Lower-case alphabet has both "I" and "J" with "w, x, y, and z" smaller than rest of alphabet to make them fit. Silk embroidery thread on cotton ground. STITCHES: cross, satin. THREAD COUNT: warp 25, weft 26/in
Inscriptions:
"School No 7"
"M. A. Hofman
Carlisle
1848"
Background:
Public schools were established in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1836, and needlework and sampler making were part of the curriculum. After grade three, the girls and boys where separated and went to different schools. For the girls, one afternoon each week was devoted to needlework. There are samplers in existence from School No. 7 and School No. 8. It is thought this work was done under the tutelage of Miss Fanny Webber, who taught from 1836 to 1863. M. A. Hofman has not yet been identified.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1848
maker
Hofman, M. A.
ID Number
1998.0130.01
catalog number
1998.0130.01
accession number
1998.0130
Map of New York State. Most counties and county seats named; rivers shown but not named; names of neighboring states given (Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania); Erie Canal shown, but not named.
Description
Map of New York State. Most counties and county seats named; rivers shown but not named; names of neighboring states given (Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania); Erie Canal shown, but not named. Light gray guidelines under all embroidery; water damage prior to arrival at Smithsonian. Silk thread on wool ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, four-sided, Algerian eye, back, chain. THREAD COUNT: warp 44, weft 46/in.
Inscription:
"MAP
of the
STATE
of
NEW YORK"
Background:
Catalina Juliana was born on June 19, 1823, to Sidney and Maria Benito Dorado Mason, in St. Johns (San Juan), Puerto Rico. Catalina's father was American consul in St. Johns from 1829 to 1835. Desiring to educate his children in his native land, Mr. Mason brought his family to the United States in one of his own sailing vessels. After arrival in Baltimore, they were taken to Gloucester, Massachusetts. His wife soon succumbed to the rigors of the climate and died on September 14, 1835. On the death of his wife, Mr. Mason gave up all business interests and set forth on an extended tour of Europe. Before departing, he traveled to Puerto Rico one more time and took Catalina with him. When they returned, he placed Catalina at Miss Emma Willard's boarding school for girls in Troy, New York. Recalled from Europe by the death of his son on Dec 25, 1839, he took up residence in New York, and Catalina finished her school days with the Misses McClennachan. It is not known where she stitched her map sampler. She married Theodorus Bailey Myers in 1847, and they had two children, Theodorus Bailey and Cassie Mason. Catalina and her husband made many trips to Europe, and she is known to have paid a visit to the famous dressmaker, Worth. Her niece admired her hands, saying "They were not ornamental only, for they could sew and embroider beautifully, and do all sorts of fine worsted work." Catalina died on August 27, 1905. See Catalina Mason's other sampler.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1837-1847
maker
Mason, Catalina Juliana
ID Number
TE.H33819.A
catalog number
H33819.A
accession number
70138
This sampler features one Hebrew alphabet of 21 consonants.
Description
This sampler features one Hebrew alphabet of 21 consonants. (Vowels were not included in the Hebrew alphabet.) The inscription on the bottom includes a first initial, the last name, and date: “B Holländer 1845.” The sampler was stitched with silk embroidery thread on a cotton ground with a thread count of warp 35, weft 35/in. It is very similar to the sampler stitched by B Lazarus 1843. These may have been done at the same school. There are very few known Jewish samplers and these are a welcome addition to the collection.
B Holländer has not yet been identified.
date made
1845
maker
Hollander, B.
ID Number
2011.0040.01
catalog number
2011.0040.01
accession number
2011.0040
This sampler features two block alphabets with a lower case backward “j,” She included the following inscription:“Bestow dear Lord upon our youthThe gift of saving graceAnd let the seed of sacred truthFall in a fruitful placeCaroline Quick 1841”Caroline Quick’s inscription is fro
Description
This sampler features two block alphabets with a lower case backward “j,” She included the following inscription:
“Bestow dear Lord upon our youth
The gift of saving grace
And let the seed of sacred truth
Fall in a fruitful place
Caroline Quick 1841”
Caroline Quick’s inscription is from a hymn, Prayer for a Blessing by English poet William Cowper (1731-1800). Stitching such a verse on her sampler was a way for Caroline to receive religious instruction. The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 22, weft 25/ in. The stitches used are cross, four-sided, double cross, queen, Algerian eye, and crosslet.
Caroline Quick (c.1831) was the daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth Quick and was born in Ulster County, Marlborough, New York. In the 1880 New York census she was living with George and Timna Quick Woolsey. Timna was a sister to Caroline, and George and Timna were the parents of donor Harriet Woolsey Gardner, Mrs. Daniel Gardner.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1841
maker
Quick, Caroline
ID Number
TE.H37549
catalog number
H37549
accession number
115031
This sampler features two block alphabets of 26 letters, with numbers to 4. The letters and numbers are all stitched at random in different colors, and all the rows are separated by simple geometric crossbands.
Description
This sampler features two block alphabets of 26 letters, with numbers to 4. The letters and numbers are all stitched at random in different colors, and all the rows are separated by simple geometric crossbands. Julia was only learning the basics needed for plain sewing by making a sampler with just alphabets and numbers. On the bottom she included the inscription:

“Julia Lacey St Vince Sch”>br>
Julia worked her sampler while attending St. Vincent’s school for orphans in Washington, D.C. The sampler is stitched with wool embroidery thread on a cotton canvas ground with a thread count of warp 23, weft 26/in. The stitches used are cross, and crosslet.
Julia Winona Lacey was born in Washington, D.C., in 1840 and married Almanza Layton, who was born on June 1837. They had four children - Esther (c.1860-), Fanny (1862-), Florence (1864-), and Catherine (c.1865-). Julia died in 1874.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1848
maker
Lacey, Julia Winona
ID Number
TE.T08869
catalog number
T8869
accession number
164049
This sampler features two block alphabets of 26 letters, with numbers to 8.
Description
This sampler features two block alphabets of 26 letters, with numbers to 8. Below the alphabets is the inscription:

“Sally Precinda Chaffee 1849
11 years of Age”
This sampler was not done on fabric but on perforated paper, a light weight card that first became available in the 1820s and was commonly used for bookmarks and mottos. The sampler is stitched with cotton and wool embroidery thread on perforated paper with a count of 15/in. The stitches used are cross and tent.
Sally Precinda Chaffee was born on September 6, 1838, to Samuel and Ursula Selenda James Chaffee in Berkshire, Franklin county, Vermont. She died unmarried on August 30, 1857, in Berkshire, Vermont.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1849
maker
Chaffee, Sally Precinda
ID Number
TE.T09688
catalog number
T9688
accession number
173352
This sampler features a picture of two children, a dog, a parrot, and a butterfly in a garden with a floral border. A dog symbolizes fidelity and watchfulness, a parrot suggests talkativeness, and a butterfly symbolizes immortality.
Description
This sampler features a picture of two children, a dog, a parrot, and a butterfly in a garden with a floral border. A dog symbolizes fidelity and watchfulness, a parrot suggests talkativeness, and a butterfly symbolizes immortality. These are appropriate motifs to go with young children. Mary worked her sampler in Patterson, New Jersey. Patterson was home to many textiles mills in 1840 and that may have been the reason her family came to live there. Her pattern was probably a Berlin wool work pattern. In 1820 with the introduction of Berlin wools comes the name Berlin wool work patterns. These patterns were hand painted on graph paper. The sampler is stitched with wool and silk embroidery thread on a cotton canvas ground with a thread count of warp 24, weft 24/in. The stitches used are cross, crosslet.
Mary Louisa McCully was a cousin of Frank H. McCully, in whose memory the sampler was donated to the Smithsonian.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840
maker
McCully, Mary Louisa
ID Number
TE.T08229
catalog number
T8229
accession number
147229

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.