| National Museum of American History

An intriguing note came with this framed medallion quilt when it was donated: “The Quaker Quilt. Phil.

Description: An intriguing note came with this framed medallion quilt when it was donated: “The Quaker Quilt. Phil. ca 1840 made for wedding of bride of early Philadelphia Quaker Abolitionist of pieces from the gowns of her trousseau.” Unfortunately there is no indication of the quilt maker or ownership.; The focus of the 41-inch central square, “Star of Bethlehem,” is set off by a 5-inch octagonal border. Additional pieced and plain borders frame this variation of a medallion-style quilt. The beige, tan, brown, rust, and light grey silks and satins utilized for the pattern would be typical of the Quaker esthetic and period. The quilt is lined with roller printed cottons and filled with wool. It is quilted with a variety of geometric patterns (grid, diagonal, chevron, and parallel lines), feathered and flowering vines in the borders, and a spray of flowers in the corner squares. This quilt is a precisely designed example of Quaker quilts in the mid-19th century.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1835-1845

maker: unknown

ID Number: TE.E388880
accession number: 182022
catalog number: E388880

The popularity of the 1937 Walt Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based on a German fairy tale, inspired this quilt pattern. The movie has been re-released many times.

Description: The popularity of the 1937 Walt Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based on a German fairy tale, inspired this quilt pattern. The movie has been re-released many times. In 1972 Lehman Brothers published a pattern, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” that is very similar to this quilt. It was advertised as “a perfect quilt for your favorite child. White bearded dwarves [sic] dressed in bright suits, and colorful trees and flowers surround Snow White and the cottage.”; From the early 20th century, kit quilts have been available in the market to save time and/or provide the quilter with assistance in design or color choices. This quilt was made from a kit as evidenced by stamped lines that are still visible along some edges.; The quilt is appliquéd with motifs that include a stylized cottage, trees, and dwarfs, and, of course, Snow White. All of the dwarfs have coral-colored caps and boots, blue tights, yellow shirts, green vests, and white beards. Details are embroidered with satin, outline, daisy, and French knot stitches. The figures are outlined in quilting stitches, 4 stitches per inch. The 7 ½-inch border is quilted with flowers and diagonal lines. The “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” pattern, based on a well-known children’s story and animated movie, made a special quilt to brighten a child’s room.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1975-1995

ID Number: 1996.0013.01
accession number: 1996.0013
catalog number: 1996.0013.01

“We hope that restful comfort lingers / Under this work of loving fingers” is the sentiment inked on this parlor throw by Mary “Delia” Lynch.

Description: “We hope that restful comfort lingers / Under this work of loving fingers” is the sentiment inked on this parlor throw by Mary “Delia” Lynch. As Mary grew up in Virginia, married and lived in Illinois and in 1886 moved to California, it is not known precisely where this parlor throw was made. When the donor, Mary’s granddaughter, discovered it in an old trunk in the 1950s, she noted, “It was as new as the day it had been finished years ago for it had not only never been used, it had not even been lined.”; Twenty 13 ¾-inch crazy-patched blocks are framed with a 2 ¾-inch maroon velvet border on this parlor throw. As is characteristic of many silk crazy-patched quilts (parlor throws) of this period, the pieces came from a variety of sources. The donor described the fabrics her grandmother used: “Most of the pieces are from materials of her [Mary Lynch] dresses and the dresses of my mother [Norma Clark] as a child and as a young girl. Among them are several pieces on which my mother painted a musical score [notes for ‘Auld Lang Syne’], a verse, and a spray of flowers.” Although the pieces were collected over a long period of time, it is not known whether Mary brought along the pieces, squares, or finished throw when she moved to California in 1886. The lining of the throw was done in 1968 by the donor a few years after she discovered it in an old trunk after her mother died.; The patches contain initials, and other painted and embroidered motifs often found on patch-work parlor throws. Among these are two 1880 campaign ribbons; one for Republicans James Garfield and Chester Arthur, another for Democrats Winfield Hancock and William English. Commemorative ribbons are another item often found included on crazy patch needlework.; One embossed maroon velvet patch, has the inscription “J.H. WHITEHURST GALLERIES / NEW-YORK / WASHINGTON D.C. / BALTIMORE / RICHMOND / NORFOLK / PETERSBURG / LYNCHBURG.” Most likely this is a case pad that would have been opposite a daguerreotype. It is an unusual example of the source of fabrics gathered to make a throw. Jesse Harrison Whitehurst (about 1820-1875) was one of the earliest and most successful photographers in Virginia. As noted above, he had several commercial studios and the quality of his work is among the best of that era.; All of the patches are enhanced with cross, buttonhole, feather, straight, detached chain, herringbone, star, stem, and French knot stitches--a feature of crazy-patchwork.; Mary Adelia, known as Delia, was born about 1845 to Maria and Grover Young in Richmond, Va. She was a descendent of an early English pioneer, William Claiborne (about 1600-1677), surveyor and settler in Virginia and Maryland. She married Jacob G. Lynch (ca 1842-1886) in Illinois, on January 30, 1867. On the 1870 census, they were living in Cairo, Ill., with their infant daughter, Norma. In 1886, after Jacob’s death, Mary moved to California. From at least 1900, she lived with her daughter Norma and Norma’s husband, Joseph H. Clark, in Oakland, Alameda Co., Calif. Mary died February 9, 1917, and is buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.; The donor in a letter expressed this often-noted sentiment: “Because I am the last of my line with no blood relatives, I am eager that this beautiful heirloom piece of American hand-craft should find a home where it can be appreciated, preserved, and cherished.” At the news that the parlor throw had been accepted, the donor “went out to dinner in celebration of the fact that at long last ‘Grandma’s Quilt’ had found a proper home.” Mary Lynch’s parlor throw is a noteworthy addition to the Collection.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1875-1890

maker: Lynch, Mary Adelia Young

ID Number: TE.T14831
catalog number: T14831
accession number: 282325

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

In 1883,Fidelia Dickinson created this parlor throw, a veritable textile sampler of silk fabrics from 1783 to 1883. She made it as a wedding present for her daughter Anna, who married Isaac Newton Knapp on December 5,1883.

Description: In 1883,Fidelia Dickinson created this parlor throw, a veritable textile sampler of silk fabrics from 1783 to 1883. She made it as a wedding present for her daughter Anna, who married Isaac Newton Knapp on December 5,1883. Not only did Fidelia collect all the fabrics, but she made a key to the origins of each.; In 1931 her grandson, Arthur, wrote: “I have recently inherited a patchwork quilt made in 1883. I believe that it is an exceptional example of the quilt work of the time. It is in a perfect state of preservation and the exact history has been preserved of some forty pieces in it. The oldest piece is dated 1783. . . . I would be pleased to give this quilt to the National Museum for preservation, if you are interested.”; Twenty-eight 8 ½-inch crazy-patched blocks are set off by a 5 ½-inch red velvet strip at the top and bottom. Four corner blocks are pieced in fan patterns, a motif often found on throws of the period. In addition there are embroidered motifs of a butterfly, spider web, and flowers. One badge or ribbon was worn by John Northend, Fidelia's son-in-law, on Connecticut’s “Battle Flag Day” in 1879. “Lovers Delight” is stamped on another patch.The throw is lined with a machine-quilted dark red silk and tied every 4 ½ inches with small silk ribbon bows.; The distinguishing feature of this parlor throw is an embroidered number found on various patches. These numbers correspond to a detailed explanation of their source that was included with the donation. Thirty-six of the forty numbered pieces are from items worn on the occasion of their own weddings by relatives and friends of the bride or groom. Some examples are: “Wedding dress of Fidelia S. Hall (who made this quilt). Married Abner Wolcott Dickinson. February 28, 1844.” “Wedding vest of Abner Wolcott Dickinson.” “Wedding dress of Mary Elizabeth Dickinson. Married John Northend, May 6 [22], 1877. A sister.”; The oldest piece was from a “Wedding dress of Eunice Hills. Married Timothy Hall, M.D. April 3 1783 in East Hartford, Connecticut.” There was even a piece of Anna’s gown described as “Wedding dress of Anna Dickinson. Married Isaac Newton Knapp. December 5, 1883. Afterwards part of the wedding trousseau of Bessie Knapp Pierce [their daughter] in 1909.” Items from parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, cousins, and friends are included. The wedding present that Fidelia crafted for her daughter is a textile version of a family tree.; Fidelia S. Hall was born July 12, 1824, in East Glastonbury, Hartford, Conn. She was the daughter of Betsy Wells (1802-) and Austin Hall (1798-1851). Fidelia married Abner Wolcott Dickinson (1820-1903) on February 28, 1844. They lived in Connecticut and raised nine children. Daughter Sarah Anna (referred to as Anna), was born February 18, 1854. Anna taught school before her marriage to Isaac Newton Dickinson (1851-1930) in 1883. They had five children and lived in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. Fidelia died March 20, 1909, and is buried in the Wassuc Cemetery, New Britain, Hartford, Conn. Anna died August 15, 1931, in Paris, France, and is buried in Washington, D.C.; Fidelia fashioned her wedding present to her daughter not only as a lovely item for Anna's home, but also as a very personal textile document connecting Anna to her family and friends.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1883

maker: Dickinson, Fidelia S. Hall

ID Number: TE.T06963
accession number: 116760
catalog number: T06963

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

In 1897, the year this quilt was begun, women's fashion was for long skirts as seen in the corner block of Edna Force Davis’s elaborately embroidered parlor throw.

Description: In 1897, the year this quilt was begun, women's fashion was for long skirts as seen in the corner block of Edna Force Davis’s elaborately embroidered parlor throw. Over thirty years later in 1929, when Edna finished her project, the fashion had changed and skirts were now much shorter, as her embroidered figure on the opposite corner block indicates. In 1965 Hazel Davis, Edna’s daughter, donated her mother's wool parlor throw on which Hazel's own initials, “HLD,” appear.; Edna used wool for the many patches on this throw. She basted patches to an interlining of ticking; the edge of each patch was folded under, and joined with embroidery using wool yarns. The parlor throw was further embellished with many floral motifs. Other designs include birds, butterflies, sleeping babies, an anchor and chain, a rabbit, fans, and spider webs. Many of these were popular designs; others may have had meaning. Two motifs, an Odd Fellows symbol and a violin, were included---Edna’s husband played the violin and was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a benevolent fraternal organization.; Most of the embroidery is done with wool, mainly a soft 2-ply wool often referred to as “zephyr yarn.” Edna used satin, chain, stem, back, French knot, daisy, straight, weaving, seed, buttonhole, herringbone, and cross stitches to achieve her designs. “Edna Force Davis” is prominently embroidered in the border, completed in the 1920s, that frames the crazy-patch center. The lining is pink wool.; While many of the motifs and stitches are typical of fancy needlework of the period, Edna personalized her parlor throw with original designs, significant dates, and initials, as well as an embroidered verse. Phrases and short verses that had special meaning, such as the one below, are frequently inked or embroidered on needlework objects.; “There is so much good in the worst of us,; And so much bad in the best of us,; That it scarcely behooves any of us; To talk about the rest of us.”; This verse is often attributed to Edward W. Hoch (1849-1925), the seventeenth governor of Kansas, who merely printed it in the Record Marion, Kansas, of which he was editor. It appears in early 20th-century poetry books and anthologies and its origins are not known.; Edna Force was born July 27, 1871, in Hunterdon County, N. J. She married James Bennett Davis (1865-1935) of Fairfax County, Va., on February 15, 1893. They had two children, Hazel and Carl, and lived in Fairfax, Va. Edna died January 12, 1952, and is buried in the Pohick Cemetery, also in Fairfax. Her needlework skills and design sense make this crazy-patch parlor throw a unique addition to the Collection.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1897-1929

maker: Davis, Edna Force

ID Number: TE.T13779
accession number: 263526
catalog number: T13779

Aimee Elkington was twelve when she first embroidered a ribbon for this decorative parlor throw in 1877.

Description: Aimee Elkington was twelve when she first embroidered a ribbon for this decorative parlor throw in 1877. It was the beginning of the popularity of “crazy quilts,” decorative tops that were pieced of irregularly shaped bits of silk fabrics, elaborately embroidered, and lined with a silk or cotton fabric. While some may have been used as bedcovers, more often they were displayed in the parlor.; Merchants sold packages of fabric samples, instructions for assembling them, and embroidery patterns to add an endless variety of designs and ornamental stitches. Often the throws were individualized by incorporating mementoes such as campaign ribbons, embroidered or printed poems, and significant phrases, dates or initials. Aimee employed many of the popular motifs and techniques on her throw.; The parlor throw is composed of twenty-five crazy-patched and embroidered blocks. In 1946, almost seventy years after she first started, Aimee joined the blocks together. She died shortly after, before she could add a planned border and lining. Among the motifs are fans, cattails, sunflowers, spider webs, and hearts, all frequently found on other parlor throws. Flowers were not only embroidered but also made of puckered and tacked velvet, padded silk pile, or silk floss that was tacked down and sheared. Applique, crazy patchwork, hand-painting, and fancy embroidery stitches were used to create the elaborate top.; The embroidered initials “AE” in the center signify Aimee Elkington. Some of the blocks may have memorialized friends, such as the crane motif, said to be included for a friend named Crane. A poem, “Easter” by William Croswell, printed on one silk patch, may have had special significance for Aimee. The silk, satin, and velvet fabrics are typical of the period, as are the many colors of silk embroidery thread, chenille, and metallic cord used to embellish them. Created over a lifetime, it is in the rendition that Aimee created a unique and very personal object.; Aimee Elkington was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1865. She married a Mr. Shepherd, and the couple's daughter, Glaydes, was born in Florida about 1890. On the 1900 census, Aimee was widowed, she and young daughter were living with her mother, Elizabeth Elkington Power, and stepfather, Samuel Power, in Eustis, Lake County, Fla. By 1910 Aimee had remarried, to John L. Hodge, and was living in Lucas, Ohio. As a young child in 1868, John had moved from Canada to the United States. Aimee died in 1946. Glaydes, Aimee’s daughter, donated the quilt (parlor throw) in 1970 and was “delighted to have [my mother’s quilt] in an interesting and wonderful place.”
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1877-1946

maker: Hodge, Aimee Elkington

ID Number: TE.T15200A
catalog number: T15200A
accession number: 291108

This banner is one of two made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the Ladies Society of the First Presbyterian Church, New York City, as a fundraising project.

Description: This banner is one of two made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the Ladies Society of the First Presbyterian Church, New York City, as a fundraising project. The donor, Emilie Noakes Manley, referred to them as “Autograph Quilts” as they contain many signatures of prominent political personages of the period.; The banners belonged to her husband’s grandmother, Margaret Clarke Goodall Bradley, and were donated in her memory. According to family information, this banner was raffled as a fund raiser, possibly for an 1893 addition to the church by the firm McKim, Mead & White. Although Margaret Bradley did not win the raffle, the banner was presented to her because of “her efforts for the projects.”; This banner has a black satin ground with an appliquéd American flag made of red and white satin with a blue and white printed field of stars. Inked signatures of Benjamin Harrison (president 1889-1893) and his cabinet are on the flag. Near the flag are the embroidered words, "Liberty Union E pluribus Unum." In the center of the banner is an appliquéd blue circle embroidered with white stars surrounded by 44 red and white rays representing the number of states in the early 1890s. The rays are embroidered, following the lines of the original signatures, with the names of state governors, including those of Idaho and Wyoming both of which joined the Union in 1890.; The patriotic center is enhanced with appliquéd and embroidered flags of 48 nations. The embroidered insignia of 86 G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) posts or units are on a 10-inch black satin border. Between two of the G.A.R. insignia is an embroidered Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, and the inscription “BROOKLYN BRIDGE.” Across the top are 42 thin metal rings, an indication that it was meant to be hung. It is lined with light blue-green silk.; The Grand Army of the Republic was founded in Decatur, Illinois on April 6, 1866 by Benjamin F. Stephenson. Membership was limited to honorably discharged veterans of the Union Army, Navy, or Marine Corps who had served between April 12, 1861, and April 9, 1865. Its peak membership was at more than 400,000 in 1890, about the time this banner was made. It lobbied Congress to establish veterans' pensions, supported voting rights for black veterans, and supported Republican political candidates. The organization ended in 1956 with the death of the last member to have served in the Civil War.; The donor recalled in a letter that she remembered hearing that the banner was “a money-making project, and all the ladies of the church participated in the assembling of the ‘Autograph-Swatches’ and the stitching and embroidery. The signatures on the flags were probably members and friends of the congregation (and possibly charged a small fee for the privilege) and when the quilts were completed they were raffled off.”; Margaret J. Clarke was born December 1858 to John and Matilda McKinney Clarke in New York City. Her parents were born in Ireland. She married Edward F. Goodall on September 18, 1877. He was killed by a train in 1880 and she married Samuel Bradley on February 25, 1885. She died November 21, 1929, in New York.; Margaret's daughter Louise, from her first marriage, married John Gordon Noakes. Their son, Donald Gordon Noakes, married Emilie, the donor. He died in 1948 and Emilie later married John Manley. In 1979 she gave the quilts to the National Museum in honor of the family and Margaret Clarke Goodall Bradley. Another granddaughter, Marjorie Blampied, wrote that the quilts “. . . most certainly are where they belong . . . where they will be treasured and appreciated.”
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1890-1893

maker: unknown

ID Number: 1979.1019.01
catalog number: 1979.1019.01
accession number: 1979.1019

Although this crazy-patched parlor throw is characteristic of the many made in the last part of the 19th century, its many souvenir ribbons, extravagant embroidery, painted patches, typical period motifs, and a multitude of silk and velvet fabric samples combine to make it unique

Description: Although this crazy-patched parlor throw is characteristic of the many made in the last part of the 19th century, its many souvenir ribbons, extravagant embroidery, painted patches, typical period motifs, and a multitude of silk and velvet fabric samples combine to make it unique. Thirteen printed campaign and club ribbons dating from 1884 to1890 support Grover Cleveland as president and commemorate organizations such as the Iroquois or Americus Clubs. A “Kate Greenaway” ribbon also adorns the throw. Kate Greenway (1846-1901) was a famous English children’s book illustrator whose images appear on other quilts in the Collection.; Twelve large crazy-patched blocks, varying in size, were assembled to make this throw. It has a light blue cotton lining, which is machine-seamed, with a cotton filling. The black satin border is machine stitched with black silk. The embroidery on the throw includes the following stitches: French knot, feather, chain, straight, stem, detached chain, herringbone, and buttonhole. Embroidery stitches cover all the seams and decorate some of the patchwork pieces. There is no binding. Instead the top and lining are machine-seamed face to face on three sides, turned right side out, and the fourth side is whipped by hand. It is tied every 12 1/2 inches with light blue silk.; The quilt was donated by Arthur Wallace Dunn Jr. in memory of his father. Arthur Wallace Dunn Sr. (1859-1926) was a newspaper political correspondent and author who often toured the country with presidential candidates. One of the printed ribbons “Reporter National Democratic Convention 1888” may have held particular significance for him. Another patch is embroidered with the name, “Lillian.” Arthur Wallace Dunn Sr. married Lillian J. Nash in 1890. Perhaps his wife made this throw, incorporating ribbons her husband had collected as souvenirs.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1880-1895

maker: unknown

ID Number: TE.T12899
accession number: 245700
catalog number: T12899

Kaziah North Bathurst made this cotton quilt as a gift to her stepson, Samuel Harvey Bathurst. The carefully pieced baskets with their appliquéd handles contain scraps from the dresses of Samuel’s mother, Emily Susan Bathurst (1833-1869).

Description: Kaziah North Bathurst made this cotton quilt as a gift to her stepson, Samuel Harvey Bathurst. The carefully pieced baskets with their appliquéd handles contain scraps from the dresses of Samuel’s mother, Emily Susan Bathurst (1833-1869). Samuel was born in Washington County, Iowa, in 1853. He farmed and was a lifelong resident of Adair County, Iowa, until his death in 1937.; Thirty pieced and appliquéd 7 ½-inch blocks in the “Basket” pattern alternate with plain white blocks. These are framed by a 5 ½-inch white border. The quilting patterns include feathered circles and undulating ivy vines, with pairs of birds between the baskets in the outer row. Each bird is in profile with its head turned to the back, revealing an eye embroidered in black cotton thread.; Born in Pennsylvania in 1841, Kaziah (Keziah) North was living in Iowa with her family by 1860. At age 30, Kaziah married Roland Curtin Bathurst, a widower with eight children of which Samuel was the eldest. Kaziah and Roland had three more children. According to family history, Kaziah made a quilt for each of her eight stepchildren using fabrics from their mother’s dresses. She also made quilts for the three youngest children, Roland, Pearl, and Iva Gay, with fabrics from her own dresses. Kaziah’s husband, Roland, died in 1900, and she died in 1922. Both are buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Atchison County, Kansas.; Samuel’s daughter, Effie, donated his quilt to the Museum in memory of her father, and as a tribute to Kaziah who used her quilting expertise to keep memories alive for both her children and stepchildren.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1880-1890

maker: Bathurst, Kaziah North

ID Number: TE.T15107
catalog number: T15107
accession number: 288155

Lura B. Thomas made this quilt for her 10-year-old granddaughter, Lura Woodside, in 1898. It was part of the contents, donated in 1953, of Lura Woodside’s late 19th-century child’s bedroom in Malden, Mass.

Description: Lura B. Thomas made this quilt for her 10-year-old granddaughter, Lura Woodside, in 1898. It was part of the contents, donated in 1953, of Lura Woodside’s late 19th-century child’s bedroom in Malden, Mass. Furnishings, children’s clothing and playthings were among the items donated. Like the quilt, most of the clothes and doll dresses were also made by Lura Thomas, who had been a professional dressmaker.; Lura Thomas pieced this quilt of triangles utilizing many different roller-printed and woven checked, plaid, and striped cotton fabrics. Two 2 1/2-inch triangles are joined into a square, and the squares are joined so that the triangles of the same print form a diagonal row. In the center of the quilt “Lura 98” is embroidered in yellow. The quilt has a cotton lining and filling. It is quilted in a chevron pattern at 7 stitches per inch.; The donor, Lura Woodside, was born in East Boston in 1887, and grew up in Malden, Mass. She married Charles Watkins in 1910. An antiques collector and authority on New England ceramics and glass, she published several books and scholarly articles. She was a founder of the Middleton (Massachusetts) Historical Society, and the Lura Woodside Watkins Historical Museum was named in her honor. She died in 1982. Her quilt, made by her grandmother, represents her lifelong interest in history and the sharing of that interest through her many museum donations.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1898

maker: Thomas, Lura B.

ID Number: TE.E393391
accession number: 197232
catalog number: E393391

The central inscription on this variaton of a “Log Cabin”quilt states that it was “Presented by Mrs. Sarah Butler, February the fourteenth One Thousand nine hundred and six,” followed by the names of four ministers.

Description: The central inscription on this variaton of a “Log Cabin”quilt states that it was “Presented by Mrs. Sarah Butler, February the fourteenth One Thousand nine hundred and six,” followed by the names of four ministers. No occasion, church, or place was indicated in the inscription, but the “Log Cabin” quilt included nearly 400 names written on the “logs”.; Research indicates that three of the ministers, Rev. L.D. Bragg, Rev. F.D. Tyler, and Rev. R. J. Honeywell were at various times pastors of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Hudson, N. H. The fourth, Rev. Van Buskirk, was the pastor of a nearby Methodist church in Antrim, N. H. In 1931 the Methodist Episcopal Church (Hudson) merged with the Congregational Church and is now called the Hudson Community Church.; The Methodist Episcopal Church in Hudson organized in 1840. On August 3, 1879, a fire destroyed the church, parsonage, and a connecting stable. A new meeting house was built in 1880. In December 1905 ceremonies were held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this church building. In January 1906, the auditorium and vestry were furnished with electric lights. It is assumed that the quilt was a fund raiser and the names on the quilt were donors. The February 1906 date might indicate either the beginning or ending of the fund raising effort, as some of the signatures are names of individuals born after 1906. One of the pastors, Rev. Roy John Honeywell, did not come to the church until 1916; although he did not marry until 1922, his wife’s name is on the quilt. The majority of the names are of people who resided in either Hudson or nearby Nashua, which was connected by trolley to Hudson.; The quilt consists of 18-inch blocks pieced in the “Log Cabin” (also known as “Pineapple,” “Chestnut Burr,” or “Church Steps”) pattern. Printed and plain cottons were used with a red triangle at each corner of the block and a red square in the center. Three hundred eighty-three names are inscribed in ink on the plain tan “logs” as well the inscriptions, “Church built in 1888” and “Alta Theresa House.” The inscriptions and names appear to have been done by the same person. Mainly plain-and twill-weave, roller-printed cottons are used for the pieced blocks, each print repeated on each block. It is lined with a roller-printed cotton.; Names on a quilt are always of interest to a researcher. This particular quilt has many. Often the names are of couples or in some instances whole families. I.e., “Lyman Bragg, Sarah Bragg, Laura Bragg, Earnest Bragg, and Barbara Bragg” are inscribed on adjacent “logs.” Reverend L. D. Bragg was one of the people mentioned in the central inscription. He and Sarah were married in 1880, and their three children were born in 1881, 1885, and 1886 (the last in Medford, Mass.). One daughter, Laura, went to South Carolina, and was the first woman to be named the director of a major American museum (Charleston Museum) in 1920. She was instrumental in advocating education in the museum setting, and also helped to establish other museums in the South. Laura’s career was long and illustrious. She died in 1978, and she is known for her innovative educational ideas and strength of character.; Though of a later date, this “Log Cabin” quilt was part of a larger collection, more than 2,000 objects, donated by Edna Greenwood in the 1950s. The late 18th- and early 19th-century textiles, furniture, ceramics, glass, tools, and implements in the collection are mainly from rural New England farms and villages and provide insight into the lives and environment of ordinary Americans. This quilt, with its many names, had no information about when or where it was collected. Through research, the many inscriptions penned on it were clues to the origins of this quilt, perhaps a community project to provide moneys to either upgrade an existing church or purchase an organ.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1906

maker: unknown

ID Number: TE.E388877
accession number: 182022
catalog number: E388877

This example of the “Goose Tracks” pattern was pieced by Mrs. Ellen Parsons of Shelbyville, Tenn. Seven-inch blocks are set diagonally with triple sashing and a miniature “Nine-patch” block at the sashing intersections.

Description: This example of the “Goose Tracks” pattern was pieced by Mrs. Ellen Parsons of Shelbyville, Tenn. Seven-inch blocks are set diagonally with triple sashing and a miniature “Nine-patch” block at the sashing intersections. The blocks are framed by three 7/8-inch bands, one printed and two plain cottons. The filling is cotton and the lining is plain-woven, open-weave white cotton.; According to a hand-written note with the quilt “Mrs. Parsons planted and grew the cotton in her garden. She picked the cotton and spun it into thread. She wove the threads into cloth to make the lining for the quilt. She pieced and quilted it by hand.” Of course information such as this is difficult to verify. The pieced blocks are outlined, the sashing and borders are zigzag quilted, 6 stitches per inch.; The donor, Mrs. M. B. Holleman, wrote about the quilt when it became part of the collection in 1965. “I am 71 years old and I have no one to leave the quilt to that would take care of it. . . . I will tell you the things my mother [about 1857-1938] told me. My Great Grand Mother made this quilt. She was drown in the river. She was on a horse & the saddle broke. It was slave time and one of her slave women was on a horse also and lived to tell how it happened. She had only one child a girl and the quilt went to her. She never used it and when my Grandmother passed away, my mother got the quilt and when my mother passed on I got it. No one ever used it. (?) We would put it out in the sun real often. I wish I could tell you more about it. I am the only one living now.”; Mrs. Parsons's quilt is a testimony to the importance to the family to hand down to future generations treasured objects and the stories that go with them. When there are no longer heirs to take care of an object, such as this quilt, they are often donated to a museum collection so that others can admire and appreciate them.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1850-1875

maker: Parsons, Ellen

ID Number: TE.T13774
accession number: 263336
catalog number: T13774

Hulda Larson and her daughter Ellen made this quilt to commemorate the 1901 Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo, N. Y. Souvenir stamped muslin squares were sold at the Exposition and later in stores to be embroidered and assembled for a quilt.

Description: Hulda Larson and her daughter Ellen made this quilt to commemorate the 1901 Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo, N. Y. Souvenir stamped muslin squares were sold at the Exposition and later in stores to be embroidered and assembled for a quilt. Referred to as “penny squares” because they were often sold in packets of 50 for 50 cents, they became popular reminders of events and sights at the Exposition. Dated “May 1, 1905” this quilt incorporates many of those souvenir blocks.; Fifty-six 7 ½-inch white blocks were outline-embroidered in red, many depicting buildings of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. Hulda and Ellen used over 30 of these motifs for their quilt. A block labeled, “Wm McKinley Our Martyred President,” was added to the original design after his assassination at the Exposition on September 6, 1901.; The blocks also included embroidered portraits of Mrs. McKinley, , President Theodore Roosevelt, his daughter, Alice, and Mrs. Roosevelt, Edith Caro, who married the widowed president in 1886.; In the center is the official logo of the Exposition. Blocks with an American eagle, flag, and shield add a patriotic element. Two blocks with buffalo motifs, “Put Me Off at Buffalo” and “I Am A,” and other animal and floral motif blocks were used to complete the quilt. When the fair ended its buildings were demolished, except for the New York State building that later became the Buffalo and Erie Canal Historical Society.; Using a grid system of the numbers 1 to 7 across the top and A thru G along the left side the following blocks were connected to the Pan-American Exposition. The inscriptions on each block are embroidered in red.; A2 – “Indian Congress and Village”; A5 – “Stadium”; A6 – “Ohio Building”; B1 – “Trained Wild Animals”; B2 – “Ethnology Building”; B6 – “Service Building”; B7 – “Infant Incubator”; C1 – “Fair Japan”; C3 – “Johnstown Flood”; C5 – “Darkness & Dawn - Fall of Babylon”; C7 – “Government Building”; D1 – “Agriculture Building”; D2 – “Mrs. McKinley”; D3 – “President Roosevelt”; D4 (seal) “Pan-American Exposition. 1901. Buffalo. N.Y. U.S.A.” D5 – “Mrs. Roosevelt”; D6 – “Wm. McKinley-Our Martyred President” D7 – “Alaskan Building”; E2 – “Electric Tower”; E3 – “New England Building”; E5 – “Old Plantation”; E6 – “Temple of Music Where President McKinley was shot”; E7 – “Cleopatra's Temple”; F1 – “Horticulture Building”; F2 – “Aerio Cycle”; F3 – “Machinery and Transportation Building”; F4 – “Panopticon”; F5 - “Phillipine Village”; F6 – “Triumphal Bridge”; F7 – “Beautiful Orient”; G2 – “Louisiana Purchase Building”; G3 – “House Upside Down”; G4 – “Hawaiian Village & Kileaua Volcano”; G5 – “A Trip to the Moon”; G6 – “Wisconsin Building”; G7 – “Darkest Africa”; This machine-quilted example of redwork has a 3-inch white ruffle, edged with red embroidery. It has a white cotton lining and cotton filling. The blocks are machine-joined, and the lining is machine-stitched. Stem and feather stitches were used for the embroidery.; Hulda Fredricka ParsDotter was born April 21, 1858, in Vimmerby, Sweden, and married Anders James Larson on June 23, 1877. In 1882 they came to Jamestown, N. Y. Their daughter Ellen Sophia Cecilia was born in Vimmerby, Sweden, on August 11, 1879. Other daughters born in the United States were Dora (about 1889), Della (about 1891) and Arlene (about 1896). Ellen married C. Emil Swanson in 1903 in Jamestown. Ellen died on January 1, 1925. Hulda died October 4, 1949, at the age of 91. Daughter Dora married Arthur Anderson and their daughter, Alberta,married Russell Weise. It was their daughter, Judith Anderson Weise, who donated her great-grandmother and great-aunt’s Pan-American Exposition Commemorative quilt to the Museum in 1985.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1905

maker: Larson, Hulda Fredricka; Larson, Ellen Sophia Cecilia

ID Number: 1986.0032.01
catalog number: 1986.0032.01
accession number: 1986.0032

A town, “Bristol, Tennessee,” and a date, “Jan. 4, 1905,” were prominently embroidered on the parlor throw that Bonnie Blevins made for her family.

Description: A town, “Bristol, Tennessee,” and a date, “Jan. 4, 1905,” were prominently embroidered on the parlor throw that Bonnie Blevins made for her family. Donated by her daughter, Blanche Blevins, in 1956, it is an example of the fancy needlework popular in the late 19th century.; Twelve 19-inch crazy-patch and embroidered blocks were assembled for this parlor throw. It has no lining, just a rayon seam binding added at a later date, basted to the front edges. The embroidery motifs (butterflies, birds, animals, etc.) are typical of crazy patchwork, but would appear to be freely drawn rather than from a pattern. The embellishments were done with silk thread utilizing feather, stem, detached chain, French knot, coral knot, satin and buttonhole stitches. Several embroidered inscriptions are present: “I slept and dreamed / that life was beauty / I awoke and found / that life was duty.” It is from a poem by Ellen Sturgis Hooper (1812-1848), a transcendentalist poet who published in The Dial and whose poems appeared in anthologies. Lines from poetry, probably of special personal significance, were frequently added to needlework.; Four blocks of this parlor throw may have been specifically designed by Bonnie to acknowledge her family. The block containing the date and place also contained an embroidered name “Robt.” and the inscription “Think of me.” Robert was Bonnie’s husband, whom she married in 1892. A second block has the name “Fred” and “In God we trust” embroidered on the crazy-patches. Fred Foster was Bonnie’s eldest son, born in 1892. A third block has the embroidered inscription, “God bless our home,” and the name “Worth.” Omar Worth was Bonnie’s second son born in 1896. The fourth block contains an owl with the inscription “Whoo whoo.” It also has a small embroidered name, “Bonnie.” Another patch in the same block has a swan, a child’s head, heart, and the name “Blanche” embroidered on it. Blanche was Bonnie’s third child, born in 1898. The motifs that were used on each of the blocks may have held meaning for that person. Bonnie’s parlor throw was a personal record of her family.; Geneva Bonville Foster was born June 21, 1865, in North Carolina. Known as Bonnie, she married Robert Houston Blevins June 10, 1892. They had three children as noted above, and for a time lived in Tazewell County, Va., as well as Bristol, Tenn. It was in Bristol, Virginia, (Bristol lies on the border of Tennessee and Virginia) that Bonnie died at age 43 February, 17 1909. She and her family are memorialized on the parlor throw that is now part of the Collection as an example of crazy-patchwork.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1905

maker: Blevins, Geneva Bonville Foster

ID Number: TE.T11456
accession number: 211582
catalog number: T11456

Of Scottish or American origin, this child’s quilt was used in the donor’s family. The quilt is constructed with thirty-five 4-5/8" blocks pieced of printed and plain triangles.

Description: Of Scottish or American origin, this child’s quilt was used in the donor’s family. The quilt is constructed with thirty-five 4-5/8" blocks pieced of printed and plain triangles. The fabrics have stripe, geometric, and floral motifs block-printed in rose and brown with penciled blue accents. The quilt is framed by a 4-1/4" border, block-printed with birds, flowers, thistles, and striped edges.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1790-1810

maker: unknown

ID Number: 1985.0771.01
catalog number: 1985.0771.01
accession number: 1985.0771

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania friends of Ellen Winebrenner Calder presented this quilt to her in 1851. It was a farewell present for Ellen, a young bride, who was accompanying her husband, Rev. James K. Calder to Fuh-Chua, China.

Description: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania friends of Ellen Winebrenner Calder presented this quilt to her in 1851. It was a farewell present for Ellen, a young bride, who was accompanying her husband, Rev. James K. Calder to Fuh-Chua, China. They worked under difficult circumstances in China for two years as missionaries for the Methodist Episcopal Church before returning to the United States. Ellen Calder, born in 1824, died in 1858 at Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. She is buried in the Harrisburg Cemetery.; This cotton quilt consists of 36 blocks appliquéd with a fleur-de-lis motif often used by religious groups for presentation pieces. In the center circle of each block is penned a name and on many the place and date as well. Also penned on the quilt are a few pertinent religious inscriptions such as:; "When on the bounding wave,; Or in a Heathen land,; May God in Mercy Save,; And guide you by the hand.; And when your labors cease,; And you no more must roam,; May you return in peace,; To your beloved home."; In the mid nineteenth century the album or autograph quilt was a popular token of affection, often presented to someone leaving the community for a long journey or a new home far away.
Location: Currently not on view

Date made: 1851

user: Calder, Ellen Winebrenner
quilters: unknown

ID Number: TE.T08114
accession number: 144655
catalog number: T08114

Harriet Bradbury Rich wrote in 1948 that she was "pleased and proud" to donate this "memento of the First Centennial Exhibition of the United States of America." Her father, John Henry Bradbury, had been a merchant in the dry goods wholesale trade in New York and his firm receive

Description: Harriet Bradbury Rich wrote in 1948 that she was "pleased and proud" to donate this "memento of the First Centennial Exhibition of the United States of America." Her father, John Henry Bradbury, had been a merchant in the dry goods wholesale trade in New York and his firm received samples from the manufacturers commemorating the first one hundred years of nationhood that was celebrated at the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. At the age of twelve Harriet Bradbury along with her mother, Emily Bradbury, and her grandmother, Maria Silsby, assembled the commemorative fabric samples to make this patriotic quilt. The quilt was made at the Bradbury home in Charleston, New Hampshire, the fourth settlement on the Connecticut River, dating back to the French and Indian Wars.; Printed fabrics with patriotic motifs were popular in America before the 1876 Centennial but the major exposition in Philadelphia provided the textile companies with an incentive to produce many new fabrics. The utilization in this quilt of the small sample pieces that Mr. Bradbury brought back to his family provides an index of fabrics for that period. There are twenty-six roller-printed cottons and five plate or roller-printed bandannas or banners in the quilt. Many of these are printed with the dates 1876 or 1776-1876 or the word centennial. Patriotic motifs of eagles, flags, liberty caps, muskets, stars, cannonballs, liberty bells as well as portraits of George and Martha Washington and Lafayette are found in the various fabric designs. One particular striped design honors Martha Washington as it was copied from the fabric of a favorite gown of hers, the bodice of which is still at Mount Vernon, Virginia. The center of the back of the quilt contains a cotton kerchief that contains the text of the Declaration of Independence surrounded by the Liberty Bell and the seals of thirteen colonies linked by the names of the patriots of the Revolutionary cause.
Location: Currently not on view

Date made: 1876

depicted: Washington, George; Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier Marquis de Lafayette
quilters: Bradbury family
quilter: Bradbury, Emily; Silsby, Maria; Rich, Harriet Bradbury

ID Number: TE.T10090
accession number: 180031
catalog number: T10090

Sophia M. Tilton decorated her patches on this parlor throw with a wide range of painted flowers. According to donor Helen T.

Description: Sophia M. Tilton decorated her patches on this parlor throw with a wide range of painted flowers. According to donor Helen T. Batchelder, her grandmother Sophia was inspired by wildflowers such as morning glories, violets, and clover on her farm, and the roses, pansies, and lilies in her garden. Sophia was also remembered as a china painter and she used similar motifs to decorate ceramics.; China painting became a popular pastime in the United States in the 1870s. Pottery kilns developed by ceramicists such as Susan Frackelton who patented a “China-firing Apparatus” in 1886 and 1888, helped spur a large growth in both amateur and professional china painters. It is estimated that there were 20,000 professional china painters by 1900, many listed in city business directories. On this parlor throw, Sophia combined her needlework and painting skills to create her unique version of the crazy patchwork throw that was also very fashionable in the late 19th century.; The silk fabrics and ribbons that comprise this throw were said to have been bought in Boston, possibly at Thresher Bros., as Sophia’s eldest son, Alfred, owned a drugstore nearby. The throw was made for Alfred and later given to his son, the donor’s father.; A 5-inch border in the “Flying Geese” pattern frames the crazy-patchwork. The russet satin lining is decorated with bands of white silk feather-stitching framing a center rectangle outlined in herringbone-stitching. Within the rectangle is embroidered a spray of flowers and leaves in white silk. According to family tradition, it may have been designed by Sophia. The throw is edged with an orange silk cord.; Sophia Moore Leavitt, the daughter of Thomas Moore Leavitt and Sally Dearborn, was born about 1820 in Stratham, Rockingham County, N. H. Sophia’s first name was given as “Survial,” possibly a nickname, in the letter of donation. She married Nathaniel D. Tilton January 4, 1846, in Newburyport, Massachusetts. They had four sons, Alfred, Charles, Edward, and Nathaniel and were living in Watertown, Middlesex, Mass., in 1870. By 1880 Sophia was widowed and living with her youngest son (17), Nathaniel D., in Auburn, Rockingham Co., N. H.. It would have been about this time that she made her crazy-patch throw.; According to the donor at the time of donation in 1951, “Needless to say, her four sons considered it a masterpiece and I suppose it was, of the period . . . . It will be very pleasant to think of it in your department where many people can enjoy it instead of having it laid away in a trunk . . . . I give it to the museum in return for the inspiration and stimulation it has given me.” A granddaughter’s generous donation allows others to see and be inspired by her grandmother Sophia’s “masterpiece.”
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1880-1890

maker: Tilton, Survial Leavitt

ID Number: TE.T11009
accession number: 192928
catalog number: T11009

Sarah Elizabeth Smedley Henderson carefully crafted this silk parlor throw with a date of 1883. It was donated to the Collection in 1939 by her sister, Blanche Smedley-von Daur.

Description: Sarah Elizabeth Smedley Henderson carefully crafted this silk parlor throw with a date of 1883. It was donated to the Collection in 1939 by her sister, Blanche Smedley-von Daur. Along with a third sister, Matilda Smedley, Sarah and Blanche were active in establishing the American National Institute in Paris.; While living in Paris in the early 1890s, Matilda organized a successful program to assist young American women who were studying in France. She returned from France in the mid-1890s to expand this work. From modest beginnings, an Institute was established to aid struggling American art students in Paris. It was estimated in 1895 that over 3000 young women were studying in Paris. Matilda was the resident director of the Institute, which helped with living accomodations and provided a meeting place for the students. In 1908 bill was introduced in Congress to convert the New York-incorporated American National Institute to a Federal corporation, although the bill never became law.; Plain-, pattern-woven, ribbed, watered and printed silks as well as velvet and plush fabrics, are found on this parlor throw. The crazy-patchwork frames a center square of pansies printed on velvet. Typical embroidered motifs, mainly floral, some painted motifs, and a Kate Greenaway printed vignette decorate the patches. The date, 1883, and a few initials are embroidered on the throw. Feather, straight, buttonhole, French knot, satin, stem, detached chain, chain, and herringbone stitches embellish the crazy-patchwork. It is lined with a printed wool fabric of plumed leaves and flowers in an imitation of a warp-print fabric. A dark red velvet 4-inch border completes the throw.; Sarah born about 1866, and her sisters Blanche and Matilda were from Ireland. Sarah, according to the 1920 census, immigrated to the United States in 1886. Blanche and Matilda are shown on the passenger list of the ship Etruria that arrived in New York from England and Ireland in October 1886. Sarah married William Henderson about 1890. The couple had three children, William, James and Sarah Evelyn. It is not clear whether the date, 1883, that is found on the parlor throw is necessarily the date it was made, or a date significant for some other reason, as is sometimes the case.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1880-1890
date: 1883

maker: Henderson, Sarah Elizabeth Smedley

ID Number: TE.T08319
accession number: 152313
catalog number: T08319

Stenciling was popular as a decorative technique in the early 19th century. This example, possibly made for a crib, is not quilted, but has some linen cloth and thin cotton wadding between the cotton pieced top and linen lining.

Description: Stenciling was popular as a decorative technique in the early 19th century. This example, possibly made for a crib, is not quilted, but has some linen cloth and thin cotton wadding between the cotton pieced top and linen lining. At least 13 different templates were used in different combinations to create an overall design. A label, now missing, written in the late 19th century read: “George Jones infant quilt Ohio.”; Sixty-three 6-inch blocks, alternately plain and stenciled, comprise the top. One motif, a tree with fruit, appears on six blocks, three on either side. Other stenciled motifs, in green, blue, rose, and yellow, are more randomly placed. It is bound with two different roller-printed, ¾-inch floral strips folded over the edges.; The bright, cheerful stenciled motifs found on this child’s counterpane are similar to those found on floor cloths, furniture, and other home accessories of the period. The stenciling technique, using paints, brushes, and templates, was a convenient way to bring color and interest to everyday objects.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1830-1850

maker: unknown

ID Number: 1995.0011.03
accession number: 1995.0011
catalog number: 1995.0011.03

This is one of two banners or wall hangings made in the late 19th-early-20th century by the Ladies Society of the First Presbyterian Church, New York City, as a fundraising project.

Description: This is one of two banners or wall hangings made in the late 19th-early-20th century by the Ladies Society of the First Presbyterian Church, New York City, as a fundraising project. The donor referred to them as “Autograph Quilts” as they contain many signatures of prominent political personages of the period. The banners belonged to her husband’s grandmother, Margaret Clarke Goodall Bradley, and were donated in her memory. This banner, made about 10 years after a similarly designed banner, was also raffled as a fundraiser, possibly for a 1919 addition of a chancel to the church. Although she did not win the raffle, it was presented to Margaret Bradley because of “her efforts for the projects.”; Similar in design to an earlier (about 1890) banner made by the same group, it has a black satin ground with an appliquéd American flag made of red silk and white satin ribbon and a printed 46-star flag. Inked signatures of Theodore Roosevelt (president 1901-1909) and his cabinet members are on the flag. The center 6 ¾-inch blue silk circle is embroidered "E PLURIBUS UNUM.” It is surrounded by 47 rays representing 46 states (one ray is empty). Utah and New Mexico had joined the Union since the earlier banner had been made. Made of red and white silks, each ray has the name of a state and inked signature of the governor at that time.; The patriotic center is enhanced with appliquéd and embroidered flags of many nations. Some of these have pencil or ink signatures, over 300 in total. Seven metal rings are sewn to the banner's top edge, an indication that it was meant to be hung. It does not have a lining.; The donor recalled in a letter that she remembered hearing that the quilts and banners were “a money-making project, and all the ladies of the church participated in the assembling of the ‘Autograph-Swatches’ and the stitching and embroidery. The signatures on the flags were probably by members and friends of the congregation, (and possibly charged a small fee for the privilege) and when the quilts were completed they were raffled off.”; Margaret J. Clarke was born December 1858 to John and Matilda McKinney Clarke in New York City. Her parents were born in Ireland. She married Edward F. Goodall on September 18, 1877. He was killed by a train in 1880 and she married Samuel Bradley on February 25, 1885. She died November 21, 1929, in New York.; Margaret's daughter Louise, from her first marriage, married John Gordon Noakes. Their son, Donald Gordon Noakes, married Emilie, the donor. He died in 1948 and Emilie later married John Manley. In 1979 Emilie Noakes Manley gave the quilts to the Museum in honor of the family and Margaret Clarke Goodall Bradley. Another granddaughter, Marjorie Blampied, wrote that the quilts “. . . most certainly are where they belong . . . where they will be treasured and appreciated.”
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1905-1910

maker: unknown

ID Number: 1979.1019.02
catalog number: 1979.1019.02
accession number: 1979.1019

Nancy Ward Butler made this quilt to commemorate the death of her granddaughter in 1842. Named for her grandmother, Nancy Adelaide Butler was born May 22 1840. She was the daughter of Calvin Butler (1818-1857), the quilt maker's son, and Mary A.

Description: Nancy Ward Butler made this quilt to commemorate the death of her granddaughter in 1842. Named for her grandmother, Nancy Adelaide Butler was born May 22 1840. She was the daughter of Calvin Butler (1818-1857), the quilt maker's son, and Mary A. Storey (1822-1909) whom he married in 1839. Nancy A. Butler died in February 1842 in Jamestown, N.Y. of scarlatina or scarlet fever, a serious and often fatal childhood disease at the time. In the nineteenth century, expressions of mourning were often part of the designs found on needlework and may have provided a way of working through grief as well as a memorial to a loved one.; "NANCY A. BUTLER. DIED. FEB. 3 * 1842 * AGED 20 mo" is appliquéd on this quilt with roller and discharge printed blue and white cotton. The two sawtooth borders are pieced. The ground and lining are white plain woven cotton and the filling is cotton. The center section is quilted in parallel diagonal lines ½ to ¾ inches apart, in the border is a flowering vine; both quilted 6 stitches to the inch. A similar quilt in the McClurg Museum Chautauqua County Historical Society was possibly also made by Nancy. It memorializes her youngest son, James Butler who died of typhus at the age of 20 in 1844 and a granddaughter, Cynthia Smith Sage, who died in 1845 of consumption at the age of 23. Both are buried in the Laona Cemetery.; Nancy Ward was born in 1779, daughter of Josiah Ward (1747/48-1825). Nancy Ward married James Butler (1780-1853) in 1802 in Buckland, Massachusetts. They settled in Chautauqua County, New York and raised their family, nine children, near Laona, New York. In 1855 Nancy Ward Butler was living in Jamestown, New York with her daughter Nancy Turner (1803-1889). They were both widowed. Nancy died in 1863.; Nancy A. Butler Werdell, the donor, writes; "I am the namesake of the child, 'Nancy A. Butler,' memorialized on the quilt made by my ancestor [great-great grandmother], Nancy Ward Butler."; She also commented about the quilt in Modern Maturity magazine in 1990; "Nancy was my great aunt! I inherited [the] quilt a number of years ago and donated it to the Smithsonian [1976]. I am so pleased that I have added to the folk history of our country in a small way. A quilt (or any prized treasure) preserved in the bottom of a trunk is a waste. Let's open our trunks and share our treasures." With the quilt, is a carefully printed, undated award; "Second Prize for the most Beautiful Quilt."
Location: Currently not on view

Date made: 1842

quilter: Butler, Nancy Ward

ID Number: TE.T18333
catalog number: T18333
accession number: 1977.0125

Family & Social Life

1835 - 1845 Quaker Trousseau Pieced Quilt

1975 - 1995 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" Child's Quilt

1875 - 1890 Mary "Delia" Lynch's Crazy-patched Parlor Throw

1882 Sarah Streeper's Parlor Throw

1883 Fidelia Dickinson's Parlor Throw

1812 - 1814 "Pinwheel" Quilt

1897 - 1929 Edna Force Davis's Wool Crazy-patchwork Parlor Throw

1877 - 1946 Aimee Hodge's Crazy-patchwork Parlor Throw

1890 - 1893 Presbyterian Ladies Society Autograph Banner

1880 - 1895 Commemorative Ribbon Parlor Throw

1880 - 1890 Kaziah Bathurst's Quilt

1898 Lura Watkin's Pieced Quilt

1906 Sarah Butler's "Log Cabin" Pieced Quilt

1850 - 1875 Ellen Parsons's Pieced Quilt

1905 Hulda and Ellen Larson's Pan-American Exposition Quilt

1905 Bonnie Blevins's Crazy-patch Parlor Throw

1790 - 1810 Triangle-Pieced Child's Quilt

1851 Ellen Calder's Presentation Quilt

1876 Bradbury Family's 1876 Centennial Quilt

1880 - 1890 Sophia Tilton's Parlor Throw

1883 Sarah Henderson's Parlor Throw

1830 - 1850 Stenciled Child's Counterpane

1905 - 1910 Presbyterian Ladies Society Patriotic Banner

1842 Nancy Ward Butler's "Tombstone" Quilt