Domestic Furnishings

Tiffany Floor Lamp

Washboards, armchairs, lamps, and pots and pans may not seem to be museum pieces. But they are invaluable evidence of how most people lived day to day, last week or three centuries ago. The Museum's collections of domestic furnishings comprise more than 40,000 artifacts from American households. Large and small, they include four houses, roughly 800 pieces of furniture, fireplace equipment, spinning wheels, ceramics and glass, family portraits, and much more.

The Arthur and Edna Greenwood Collection contains more than 2,000 objects from New England households from colonial times to mid-1800s. From kitchens of the past, the collections hold some 3,300 artifacts, ranging from refrigerators to spatulas. The lighting devices alone number roughly 3,000 lamps, candleholders, and lanterns.

Resource Type: Quilts

1880-1900 Crazy-patchwork Parlor Throw

An unknown maker crafted this example of contained crazy-patchwork. Twenty 12 ¼-inch blocks are elaborately embroidered and surrounded by a 2-inch black ruffled border. The center of each block has a larger design, either floral or other motif such as a fan or a horseshoe.
Description
An unknown maker crafted this example of contained crazy-patchwork. Twenty 12 ¼-inch blocks are elaborately embroidered and surrounded by a 2-inch black ruffled border. The center of each block has a larger design, either floral or other motif such as a fan or a horseshoe. Birds, ceramics, and Kate Greenaway motifs typical of the era also adorn the throw. Silk, satin, velvet, and ribbon were used for the patchwork, which was lined with black pattern-woven silk. Chenille and silk embroidery threads were used for the many fancy stitches that embellish the throw.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T13108
accession number
250072
catalog number
T13108

1840 - 1860 "Variable Star" Pieced Quilt

The “Variable Star” pattern was used for the 7-inch pieced blocks that alternate with 7-inch plain blocks. The pieced blocks have examples of a variety of roller-printed fabrics. Around all four edges of the quilt are ten inch red and blue floral print triangles.
Description
The “Variable Star” pattern was used for the 7-inch pieced blocks that alternate with 7-inch plain blocks. The pieced blocks have examples of a variety of roller-printed fabrics. Around all four edges of the quilt are ten inch red and blue floral print triangles. The initials “S N” are cross-stitched in brown silk on the lining which consists of three lengths of plain-woven cotton. The quilt has a cotton filling and is quilted 6 stitches per inch. No separate binding, the front and lining are turned in and sewn with a running stitch. This quilt is an example of mid-nineteenth century quilting utilizing a variation of the popular star design.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17341.000
catalog number
T17341.000
accession number
321804

1850 - 1875 Mary Ann Bishop's "Double Nine-patch" Pieced Quilt

Mary Ann Bishop of Wilkesville, Vinton County, Ohio, made this quilt in the mid-nineteenth century. She utilized plain-woven roller-printed cotton dress fabrics and woven striped, checked, and plaid cottons.
Description
Mary Ann Bishop of Wilkesville, Vinton County, Ohio, made this quilt in the mid-nineteenth century. She utilized plain-woven roller-printed cotton dress fabrics and woven striped, checked, and plaid cottons. Two of the blocks of the “Double Nine-patch” quilt were enlarged by adding strips of printed cotton along two edges. A combination of diagonal-line and feathered “S” curve patterns were used for the quilting. Two gradually curved S-shaped wooden templates, also donated to the Collection, were used for marking the quilting pattern.
Mary Ann Gotschall was born July 7, 1819. She married Hiram H. Bishop (1818-1897) on January 31, 1842 in Harrison County, Ohio. He received his medical training at Starling Medical College in Columbus, Ohio, in the late 1840s. Lyne Starling (1784-1848) was the founder of the hospital and medical school, a new concept at that time of providing medical education and patient care in one facility. During the Civil War, from June 1864 to March 1865, Hiram was contracted as an Acting Assistant Surgeon at the Totten General Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky. In March of 1865, when he left, the hospital had over 6,500 patients and fewer than 100 surgeons.
Mary and Hiram reared four children; John (b. 1843), Naomi (b. 1845), Mary (b. 1848), and Luie (b. 1860). Mary Ann died March 9, 1915, and is buried in the Wilkesville Cemetery. Mary Ann Bishop’s quilt in the “Double Nine-patch” pattern is one of three quilts in the Collection that were donated by her granddaughter, Maude M. Fierce, in 1936 and 1937.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
Bishop, Mary Ann Gotschall
ID Number
TE.T07850
accession number
141189
catalog number
T07850

1846 Merinda Shedd Wright's "Nine-patch" Album Quilt

In 1846 nearly 100 friends and family members contributed signed blocks for an album quilt for Merinda Shedd Wright of Washington, N. H.
Description
In 1846 nearly 100 friends and family members contributed signed blocks for an album quilt for Merinda Shedd Wright of Washington, N. H. Possibly made before she moved West, the inscriptions include the towns of Washington, Peterborough, Stoddard, and Goshen in New Hampshire, as well as Lowell and Cambridge Port in Massachusetts.
The signers were the wives or daughters of farmers, marble cutters, mechanics, laborers, shoemakers, doctors, clergy, merchants, and others who populated the New England area in the mid-19th century. A few worked in the Lowell, Mass., mills. They ranged in age from two to the eighties, often mother and daughter combinations.
Ninety-six pieced 8-inch “Nine-patch” signed blocks are set diagonally with 32 half blocks around the entire border. All are signed, and except for one stamped inscription, all are inscribed in ink. Three blocks are dated 1846. The blocks are separated and bordered with printed cotton sashing. The lower corners of the quilt are cut away to accommodate bedposts.
Merinda Shedd, born May 1811, was the daughter of John Shedd (about 1784-1828) and Lydia Farnsworth (1785-1860). Merinda married Zophar Wright (1805-1880). The couple had seven children. It seems Merinda went West, but no further information about her was discovered. Zophar was listed as living in New Hampshire on the 1850 census (pauper) and 1860 census (basket maker). He remarried in 1877 and again in 1879.
Sarah Shedd (1813-1867), sister of Merinda Shedd, penned the following on the quilt: “Oh! A Sister’s heart is deep - And her spirit strong to keep - Each light-link of early hours.” The lines are from a poem, “The Shepherd-poet of the Alps,” by English poet, Felicia Hemans (1793-1835). Sarah was 15 when, after her father died, she found work in the textile mills of Maine and Massachusetts to help support her mother and educate her brother.
In addition to working in the mills, she became a poet and educator. She wrote for the Lowell Offering , and a book of her poetry, Poems of Sarah Shedd, Founder of the Shedd Free Library was published in 1883.
Educated, independent, and able to pursue her own interests after her mother’s death, she aspired to found a public library for her hometown of Washington, N. H. Her entire estate, $2,500 (over $400,000 today), was left to the Town to establish a library which opened in 1869 as the Shedd Free Library and contained many of her own books. In 1881 a permanent building was dedicated that is still a functioning library, having grown from the original 292 books to over 9000.
Her sister's quilt descended in the Nathan Reed Wright family, but they were not related to Zophar and Merinda Wright. Jane Wright, adopted daughter of Nathan, did sign the quilt, apparently as a friend of Merinda.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T15195
catalog number
T15195
accession number
290274

1812 - 1814 "Pinwheel" Quilt

In 1962 a great-great-granddaughter of one of the makers of this quilt donated it to the Museum with the information that it had been made by women in the Adams family. They were said to have made the quilt while the men were away during the War of 1812.
Description
In 1962 a great-great-granddaughter of one of the makers of this quilt donated it to the Museum with the information that it had been made by women in the Adams family. They were said to have made the quilt while the men were away during the War of 1812. The donor’s great-grandfather was Jackson Adams, her great-great uncle, Joshua Adams, and her grandmother, Jane Adams.
This quilt is made up of 7-inch blocks pieced in the "Pinwheel" pattern, alternating with plain white blocks. Detailed stuffed quilting embellishes the white blocks and border. Ten different quilting patterns are used for the plain blocks, all but one repeated.
The 8-inch white border has a quilted-and-stuffed feathered vine with small quilted-and-stuffed floral motifs. White cotton fabric was used for the lining, cotton fiber for the filling and stuffing. The pieced blocks and border are quilted at 9 stitches per inch. The “Pinwheel” Quilt, with its contrast of elaborate stuffed quilting and simply pieced blocks, is a fine example of early 19th-century quilting making.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1812-1814
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12815
accession number
242609
catalog number
T12815

1882 Sarah Streeper's Parlor Throw

In the mid-1880s Sarah Paul Streeper carefully crafted this velvet parlor throw for her granddaughter, Kate Van Winkle’s, trousseau.Twenty 8 ½-inch blocks frame a center block, 18 1/2-inches square, on this throw. The blocks are joined with a 1 3/8-inch black velvet sashing.
Description
In the mid-1880s Sarah Paul Streeper carefully crafted this velvet parlor throw for her granddaughter, Kate Van Winkle’s, trousseau.
Twenty 8 ½-inch blocks frame a center block, 18 1/2-inches square, on this throw. The blocks are joined with a 1 3/8-inch black velvet sashing. Sarah Streeper used applique, embroidery, and paint to decorate the velvet blocks. The center block has a combination of floral motifs that are also found on the smaller blocks.
Crazy-patchwork is used for one block and other blocks have such motifs as a spider web, fan, and an owl-on-a-branch that were popular on Victorian throws. A letter “A” embroidered on one block may have been for Angeline, Sarah’s daughter and Kate’s mother. The blocks are edged with feather stitching. Stem, buttonhole, satin, couching, French knot and herringbone stitches were used for details. A dark red velvet 4-inch border completes this throw.
Sarah Paul was born September 30, 1813, in Pennsylvania. In 1837, she married Peter Streeper (1812-1876) and the couple had eight children. On the 1880 census, Sarah was living with her youngest daughter, Emily, in Philadelphia. Sarah died there on October 20,1902. She is buried at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Barren Hill, Pa. Her tombstone is inscribed “Aged 89 years and 20 days / Call not back the dear departed / Anchored safe where storms are o’er . . . we left thee / Soon to meet and part no more.”
Kate Van Winkle, for whose trousseau the parlor throw was made, was born September 1, 1866, in Pennsylvania to Kline and Angeline Streeper Van Winkle. Angeline was Sarah’s eldest daughter. Kate married George F. Grieb May 22, 1888. They had three children and also lived in Pennsylvania. Their granddaughter, Johannah Grieb, donated the elegant parlor throw to the Museum in 1953.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1882
maker
Streeper, Sarah P.
ID Number
TE.T11022
accession number
198031
catalog number
T11022

1800 - 1840 Lucy Shepherd's Wool Quilt

Deep red and blue 11-inch squares were set diagonally, checkerboard fashion, to create this example of an early 19th century wool quilt. Each square is quilted with a floral or geometric motif.
Description
Deep red and blue 11-inch squares were set diagonally, checkerboard fashion, to create this example of an early 19th century wool quilt. Each square is quilted with a floral or geometric motif. In total twenty-two different patterns, quilted 6 stitches per inch, were used.
Lucy Addison was born in New Hampshire about 1808 or 1809 and married John Shepherd (or Shepard) in 1833. The quilt may have been made in New Hampshire, but according to censuses, after they were married they lived in Phillipston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, the rest of their lives. They had one son, Timothy Addison Shepherd, born in 1836, and it was his descendent, a great-grandson of Lucy and John, who donated the quilt in 1964.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1840
maker
Shepherd, Lucy Addison
ID Number
TE.T13511
accession number
257167
catalog number
T13511

1800 - 1820 Block-printed Quilt

A floral block-printed fabric was used to make this quilted counterpane. Three panels of cotton, block-printed in brown, red, and pink with penciled blue were sewn with linen thread to create the center. This was framed by a band of trees also block-printed on cotton. "S .
Description
A floral block-printed fabric was used to make this quilted counterpane. Three panels of cotton, block-printed in brown, red, and pink with penciled blue were sewn with linen thread to create the center. This was framed by a band of trees also block-printed on cotton. "S . B 6" is cross-stiched on the lining. It was quilted in a chevron pattern, 9 stitches per inch, and finished with an ivory silk tape binding.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1820
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17338.000
catalog number
T17338.000
accession number
321804

1840 - 1860 Octagon Pieced Quilt

This well planned quilt was executed using just two different roller-printed cottons. One a floral design in red, blue, and brown on white; the other a stylized floral print in blue, tan, and brown.
Description
This well planned quilt was executed using just two different roller-printed cottons. One a floral design in red, blue, and brown on white; the other a stylized floral print in blue, tan, and brown. The seven-inch octagons are set with 3 ¼-inch pieced squares creating an overall kaleidoscopic effect. Only along the two side edges and part of the top edge are there triangles made of other printed cottons. The lining is a plain-woven ivory cotton, and the filling is cotton. It is quilted at 8 stitches per inch. There is evidence of repairs made, probably due to wear, on the edges.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17329.000
catalog number
T17329.000
accession number
321804

1850 - 1875 "Nine-patch" Pieced Quilt

An unknown quilter assembled this quilt using a striking combination of deep blue, red, and various plaids of wool, wool-cotton, and cotton fabrics. Five-and-a-half inch square blocks are pieced in a modified “Nine-patch” design.
Description
An unknown quilter assembled this quilt using a striking combination of deep blue, red, and various plaids of wool, wool-cotton, and cotton fabrics. Five-and-a-half inch square blocks are pieced in a modified “Nine-patch” design. Each has a red center, blue rectangles, and plaid corner squares. They are set alternately with blue squares. These are framed by plaid triangles along the edges. It is quilted 8 stitches per inch. The binding, a ½ inch straight strip of the same blue fabric as the large squares, completes the quilt.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17346.000
catalog number
T17346.000
accession number
321804

1888 Prohibition Amendment Parlor Throw

"Memorial to the Constitutional Prohibition Ammendment 1888", is found on a red satin triangle on a corner of the lining.
Description
"Memorial to the Constitutional Prohibition Ammendment 1888", is found on a red satin triangle on a corner of the lining. In 1888 the Prohibition Party was beginning to achieve national strength in the presidential elections.
Founded in 1869, for the purpose of prohibiting the sale and manufacture of liquor, the Prohibition Party finally achieved the goal in 1919 with the ratification of the 18th Amendment. The 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment. Although the party still exists, it does not have the following it had in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This parlor throw was made at the height of the Prohibition Party’s popularity.
A 14-inch center block of red velvet with painted water lilies is framed by two rows of painted or embroidered 7-inch satin blocks. The use of three colors (amber, blue and black), set alternately, provides a balanced overall aesthetic. An 8 ¼-inch red velvet border completes the throw. The lining is red satin, machine-quilted in a triple diagonal grid. Five of the black satin squares have painted religious inscriptions: “Hope;” a Bible with “Tried and Proved;” “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;” Be of the same mind one toward another;” and, a cross with “Et Teneo et Teneor.” The last, meaning "I hold and am held," may have referred to the motto of a Baptist college founded by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in the 1860s. The floral and bird motifs, the spider web, and others are similar to those found on crazy patchwork of the late 19th century.
Although the maker is not known, the sentiments expressed are indicative of the types of inscriptions on decorative items that might be found in many homes during that era.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1888
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T11462
accession number
211904
catalog number
T11462

1785 - 1800 White Family's Framed Medallion Embroidered Quilt

This complex pieced and embroidered medallion quilt came from the White family of the Westminster/Boston area.
Description
This complex pieced and embroidered medallion quilt came from the White family of the Westminster/Boston area. They were descendents of John White of Dorchester, England, who was instrumental in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The quilt has a crewel-embroidered linen center in a floral pattern, framed by two rows of pieced-work, and an embroidery-on-linen border. One row of pieced work is composed of 4-inch blocks, some of which are made up of many smaller scraps. The second row is of 8-inch blocks pieced with two large triangles. The center and pieced borders are lined and quilted. The outer border is embroidered with large and small birds, flowers, and insects. No two are alike. Possibly the quilt was the work of more than one person.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1785-1800
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T14457
catalog number
T14457
accession number
277126

1840 - 1860 "Evening Star" Pieced Quilt

Pieced 8-inch blocks in the “Evening Star” (or “Sawtooth Star”) pattern are set diagonally with 8-inch plain blocks. Blocks are pieced of roller-printed cottons (1830-1860s), woven stripes, and checks.
Description
Pieced 8-inch blocks in the “Evening Star” (or “Sawtooth Star”) pattern are set diagonally with 8-inch plain blocks. Blocks are pieced of roller-printed cottons (1830-1860s), woven stripes, and checks. The border (22-inches on the sides, 21-inch bottom) is a geometric roller-printed cotton. Lined with an ivory cotton, filled with cotton, and quilted at 7 stitches per inch. No separate binding, the front and lining are turned in and sewn with a running stitch. Star patterns are popular quilting designs and this mid-19th century example uses a variety of fabrics with both printed and woven designs.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17345.000
catalog number
T17345.000
accession number
321804

1830 Jane Valentine's "Irish Chain" Quilt

On the front of this “Irish Chain”-patterned quilt is found an inscription in ink: “Commenced in 1825 & Finished in 1830 by Mifs Jane Valentine Scipio Cayuga Co. N.Y. No.
Description
On the front of this “Irish Chain”-patterned quilt is found an inscription in ink: “Commenced in 1825 & Finished in 1830 by Mifs Jane Valentine Scipio Cayuga Co. N.Y. No. of Pieced Blocks 168 Small Blocks 4,2,42." Another inscription in a different hand and ink on a back corner states: “My Mothers 5040 Blocks 1832 In Case of My death to be given to My Sister Hattie Blodgett.”
The quilt is made of 3-inch plain and pieced blocks. The blocks are comprised of about 130 different roller-printed cottons with small print motifs. An examination of the quilt reveals that there are 348 white blocks and 348 pieced blocks; the segments of the pieced blocks are 5/8-inch square, and there are 10,092 of them. Diagonal grid quilting follows the “chain.” The plain white blocks are quilted, 6 stitches per inch, with a floral motif. The “Irish Chain” pattern was in use in the early 1800s and may have been adapted from weaving patterns.
Margaret Jane Valentine was the daughter of Peter Valentine (1784-1865) and Elizabeth Hilliker. Jane married Benjamin Brown Jr. on November 16, 1831. Harriet Brown was born in 1848 and married Charles Blodgett. It was Mrs. Harriet E. Blodgett who in 1915 donated this quilt and a coverlet. At the time she wrote that the quilt was “. . . pieced by my mother. Commenced in 1825 when she was about fourteen finished 1830. . . I feel a great desire to put them [both quilt and coverlet] where they will be preserved.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1830
maker
Valentine, Jane
ID Number
TE.E287383
accession number
58478
catalog number
E287383

quilt

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
ID Number
TE.T17815
accession number
155857
catalog number
T17815

1870 - 1886 Margaret Tormey's Crazy-patched Quilt Top

It took Margaret Tormey sixteen years to carefully craft this 86-inch quilt top, dated 1886, and two matching pillow shams.
Description
It took Margaret Tormey sixteen years to carefully craft this 86-inch quilt top, dated 1886, and two matching pillow shams. She included campaign and club ribbons that name New York and Brooklyn; printed silks from the Robinson Company with such motifs as the Statue of Liberty; and brocaded silk pictures to personalize her project. Examples of chromolithograph printing on silk are also found on the quilt top. A multitude of embroidered motifs typical of the era embellish the crazy-patchwork.
Margaret McNamara was born in Ireland (about 1835) and immigrated with her family to the United States about 1848. In 1861 she married Patrick Tormey, who was also born in Ireland (about 1835) and immigrated as a teenager. They lived in Brooklyn, N.Y. Patrick, a Civil War veteran, was keeper of the Brooklyn City Hall for many years. He died in 1900. Margaret died in 1910.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870-1886
maker
Tormey, Margaret McNamara
ID Number
TE.T12927
accession number
247329
catalog number
T12927

1853 - 1860 Mary Augusta Rigby's "Pinwheel" Pieced Quilt Top

According to family information, Mary Rigby pieced this quilt top when she was six. There is a definite difference in the quality of stitching. Either Mary improved as she worked or she had help with the quilt top.
Description
According to family information, Mary Rigby pieced this quilt top when she was six. There is a definite difference in the quality of stitching. Either Mary improved as she worked or she had help with the quilt top. She was about 8 or 9 when her mother died and possibly this activity was designed as a distraction for her. A child’s thimble (TE*T12873) used by Mary is also in the Collection.
Eight-inch blocks, pieced in a “Pinwheel” pattern are set diagonally with plain white triangles. The piecing is done by overcasting, not by a running stitch.
Mary Augusta Rigby was born September 10, 1847 in New York. Her parents were John Hankey Rigby (1819-1853) born in England and Catherine Bentley (1825-1856) born in New York. Mary married Thomas Wintringham (1846-1900) on December 18, 1877. They had two children and lived in San Rafael, California. Mary was active in community causes such as saving the original pear trees from the San Rafael Arcangel Mission. She died in California on September 9, 1945.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1853-1860
maker
Rigby, Mary Augusta
ID Number
TE.T12872
accession number
242776
catalog number
T12872

1840 - 1850 Mahala Brown's Pieced Quilt

A variety of plain-woven and roller-printed fabrics from the 1830s and 1840s were used to piece the “Whig’s Defeat” pattern for this quilt. Quilted feathered circles surround each motif, with an 8-petalled flower in the center of the motif.
Description
A variety of plain-woven and roller-printed fabrics from the 1830s and 1840s were used to piece the “Whig’s Defeat” pattern for this quilt. Quilted feathered circles surround each motif, with an 8-petalled flower in the center of the motif. The 22-inch blocks are separated by 5-inch white strips. It is finished with a binding of printed cotton.
According to the donor her grandmother, Mahala Brown of Washington County, Tennessee, is the maker. Unfortunately no other information was given for the maker of this example of the “Whig’s Defeat.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1850
maker
Brown, Mahala
ID Number
TE.T16891.00S
catalog number
T16891.00S
accession number
308471

1840 - 1860 "LeMoyne Star" Pieced Quilt

Thirty-five blocks, 8-inches square, are pieced in the “Lemoyne Star” pattern. They are set diagonally with twenty-four 8-inch squares of the same floral printed cotton. All four sides are finished with large triangles of printed cottons.
Description
Thirty-five blocks, 8-inches square, are pieced in the “Lemoyne Star” pattern. They are set diagonally with twenty-four 8-inch squares of the same floral printed cotton. All four sides are finished with large triangles of printed cottons. On one end is an 8½-inch border of the same floral print as the squares. Quilting patterns include outline on the pieced squares; parallel lines and 1½-inch diagonal grid on the un-pieced squares; and, clamshell on the border. It is quilted 8 stitches per inch. The quilt is an interesting combination of mid-19th century roller printed cottons.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17350.000
catalog number
T17350.000
accession number
321804

1880 - 1900 "Stars of Bethlehem" Silk Quilt

The unknown maker of this quilt chose a traditional pieced pattern, but the fabrics make it memorable. The stars are all pieced of plain and patterned silk diamonds, with the center of the large star composed of black velvet alternating with gold-embroidered ivory satin.
Description
The unknown maker of this quilt chose a traditional pieced pattern, but the fabrics make it memorable. The stars are all pieced of plain and patterned silk diamonds, with the center of the large star composed of black velvet alternating with gold-embroidered ivory satin. The combination of plain and patterned silks in the black background adds to the overall dramatic effect.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12091
accession number
54020
catalog number
T12091

1790 - 1795 Martha Soule's Crewel Embroidered Quilt

Information included with this quilt when it was donated to the Smithsonian in 1925 indicated that it was made by the donor’s grandmother. Martha Babson Lane Soule of Freeport, Maine, was donor Caroline M. Gordon’s grandmother.
Description
Information included with this quilt when it was donated to the Smithsonian in 1925 indicated that it was made by the donor’s grandmother. Martha Babson Lane Soule of Freeport, Maine, was donor Caroline M. Gordon’s grandmother. Another quilt attributed to Martha Babson Lane Soule was donated by Martha’s great-great-grandson in 1951. Both quilts have crewel work embroidery that may date to the 1790s.
The quilt top, probably an unquilted counterpane, may date from 1790 or earlier. It is embroidered with indigo-dyed crewel (2-ply worsted) yarn in a pattern of scrolling vines with fanciful flowers and leaves, emanating from a central basket. The four corner motifs are alike, and two other flowers are repeated, while all other flowers and leaves are different in design. Embroidery stitches include stem, cross, herringbone, seed, buttonhole, Roumanian, running and couching.
The foundation fabrics of the counterpane are cotton and linen/cotton. The counterpane was probably made into a quilt in the early-nineteenth century with a thin filling of carded cotton and a lining of linen/cotton and cotton fabrics. It was quilted in a chevron pattern using 2-ply cotton in a running stitch, 5 to 6 stitches per inch.
Martha Babson Lane was born December 22, 1772, in Freeport, Cumberland County, Maine. The Lane family is listed among the settlers in that area of Maine as early as the 1650s. Martha married Moses Soule on May 25, 1793. Moses farmed in the Freeport area, and was a deacon in the church and a caulker by trade.
Martha and Moses Soule had eleven children, three of whom died within a few months of each other in 1807 at ages three, five, and eight. Three other children, born later, were given their names; John/James Babson, Nancy, and Jeannette.
One son, Gideon Lane Soule (1796-1879) was the first of his four brothers to attend Phillips Exeter Academy. He later became a professor at the Academy and for thirty-five years, from 1838 to 1873, served as its principal. Under his able direction the Academy experienced increasing growth, prosperity, and prestige.
The youngest son, John Babson Lane Soule (1815-1891), after attending the Academy, graduated from Bowdoin College. Although he completed law studies, he spent his life as a teacher, journalist, and minister in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Illinois. He is noted for possibly being the originator of the popular slogan; “Go West, young man!” used in an editorial he wrote in 1851 for the Terre Haute Express which was later adopted by Horace Greeley so effectively in an 1865 New York Tribune editorial. Martha Babson Lane Soule died on December 20, 1837, and is buried in the Lane Cemetery near Freeport, Maine.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1790-1795
quilter
Soule, Martha Babson Lane
ID Number
TE.T05251
accession number
88838
catalog number
T05251

1825 - 1840 Striped Pieced Quilt

This simply designed quilt is pieced of alternating strips of two roller printed plain-woven cottons.
Description
This simply designed quilt is pieced of alternating strips of two roller printed plain-woven cottons. The quilt shows evidence of reworking; two outer strips on one side of the quilt have been crudely joined (complete with their original lining and quilting) to the main body of the quilt. It has a cotton filling. The lining consists of five lengths of plain-woven ivory cotton. Quilted in a chevron pattern, 7 stitches per inch. There is no separate binding, the front and lining turned in and sewn with a running stitch. The light and dark contrasting strips create an interesting quilt from the first half of the 19th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1825-1840
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17348.000
catalog number
T17348.000
accession number
321804

1840 - 1850 Hephzibah Jenkins Townsend's "Hawk Owl" Appliqued Quilt

According to family information, this mid-nineteenth-century appliquéd quilt belonged to Hephzibah Jenkins Townsend of Charleston, South Carolina.
Description
According to family information, this mid-nineteenth-century appliquéd quilt belonged to Hephzibah Jenkins Townsend of Charleston, South Carolina. The central focus, possibily a Hawk Owl perched above a bird’s nest and surrounded by flowers and butterflies, is appliquéd on a 39 x 37-inch panel. A similar bird is on an English block-printed fabric of about 1780. This is framed by a 2-inch roller-printed cotton floral band, a 13-inch white border appliquéd with flowers and birds, and an 11-inch border of roller-printed cotton. The overall diagonal grid quilting pattern is closely worked at 11 stitches per inch. A 4½-inch woven and knotted cotton fringe is along each edge.
Hephzibah (Hepzibah – Hepsaba – Hepsibah) Jenkins was the daughter of Capt. Daniel Jenkins, a Revolutionary War officer, and Hepsibah Frampton. She was born about 1780 in Charleston, South Carolina. Her mother died in childbirth, while her father was imprisoned by the British during the Revolutionary War. Before her death, Hephzibah’s mother seems to have arranged to have two trusted family slaves take Hephzibah to Edisto Island, a difficult journey at that time, to stay with the Townsend family. The little girl grew up at Bleak Hall, the Townsend family home on Edisto Island. Sometime before 1801 she married Daniel Townsend (1759-1842) and they reared a large family on the island. Hepsaba was said to have been beautiful and gifted with a brilliant mind, a strong will, and a sense of justice.
During her stay on Edisto Island, Hephzibah was inspired by the preaching of Richard Furman, an influential Baptist minister who led the church from 1787 to 1825. He was well known for his leadership, promotion of education, and mission work in South Carolina and elsewhere. After becoming a Baptist in 1807, Hephzibah utilized her talents and organizational abilities to found, in 1811, the first mission society in South Carolina, the Wadmalaw and Edisto Female Mite Society. Their fund raising efforts succeeded, and $122.50 was contributed to the missionary fund in 1812, motivating women to organize societies in other Baptist churches. A few years later, about 1815, this society was responsible for building tabby ovens made from a mixture of sand, lime, oyster shells and water. There the women baked bread and pastries which were sold to raise money to support mission work and build a church.
Hephzibah is also credited with founding the Edisto Island Baptist Church, which was constructed in 1818. While Baptists had worshipped on Edisto Island from the late seventeenth century, it was Hephzibah whose efforts built the first Baptist church on the island. She died in 1847 and is buried in the church cemetery.
Initially, the Edisto Island Baptist Church accommodated both the island’s white planters and their enslaved African Americans. During the Civil War the building was occupied by Union troops. After the war, when most of the plantation families left, the church was turned over to the black membership and continues to this day as an African American church. Both the ovens and the church foundation were made of tabby, an early building material consisting of sand, lime, oyster shells, and water. The Hephzibah Jenkins Townsend Tabby Oven Ruins and the Edisto Island Baptist Church are both on the National Register of Historic Places.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1850
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T16008
accession number
298698
catalog number
T16008

1810 Ann Eayre's Quilted Counterpane

Below a pair of hearts at the bottom of this counterpane is the quilted inscription: Ann L Eayre / September 28 / 1810". Ann Eayre was born in 1776, married Hewlings, and died in 1851.
Description
Below a pair of hearts at the bottom of this counterpane is the quilted inscription: Ann L Eayre / September 28 / 1810". Ann Eayre was born in 1776, married Hewlings, and died in 1851. The significance of the date is not known.
The quilted counterpane has a large spray of flowers in the center (lily, carnation, tulip, rose, peony) enclosed in a feathered oval. Outside of this are four large baskets of flowers and a meandering row of linked double circles. This in turn is framed by a grape vine motif which is tied in a bow at the bottom of the quilt. The extreme outer edges have a 2-inch band of simple leaves. It has a white cotton lining and cotton filling. In addition to the quilted motifs, the background is quilted in parallel lines 3/8 inch apart, 9 stitches/inch. No separate binding was used, instead the back is brought to front (1/8 inch) and whip stitched. It is a typical example of early 19th century white work, both in technique and in the motifs chosen for the design.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1810
maker
Eayre, Ann L.
ID Number
TE.T11785
accession number
225113
catalog number
T11785

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