National Quilt Collection

"Quilt": A cover or garment made by putting wool, cotton or other substance between two cloths and sewing them together. An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, LL.D., New York 1828. 

The National Quilt Collection incorporates quilts from various ethnic groups and social classes, for quilts are not the domain of a specific race or class, but can be a part of anyone’s heritage and treasured as such. Whether of rich or humble fabrics, large in size or small, expertly crafted or not, well-worn or pristine, quilts in the National Quilt Collection provide a textile narrative that contributes to America’s complex and diverse history. The variety and scope of the collection provides a rich resource for researchers, artists, quilt-makers and others. 

Part of the Division of Home and Community Life textiles collection, the National Quilt Collection had its beginnings in the 1890s. Three quilts were included in a larger collection of 18th- and 19th-century household and costume items donated by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. From this early beginning, the collection has grown to more than 500 quilts and quilt-related items, mainly of American origin, with examples from many states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Most of the contributions have come to the Museum as gifts, and many of those are from the quilt-makers’ families. The collection illustrates needlework techniques, materials, fabric designs and processes, styles and patterns used for quilt-making in the past 250 years. The collection also documents the work of specific quilt-makers and commemorates events in American history. 

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According to family information, this mid-nineteenth-century appliquéd quilt belonged to Hephzibah Jenkins Townsend of Charleston, South Carolina. The central focus of this quilt, a “Tree of Life” motif, is decorated with appliquéd peacocks and other birds.
Description
According to family information, this mid-nineteenth-century appliquéd quilt belonged to Hephzibah Jenkins Townsend of Charleston, South Carolina. The central focus of this quilt, a “Tree of Life” motif, is decorated with appliquéd peacocks and other birds. The branches, flowers, birds, and butterflies are cut from different block-printed cottons. An 8½-inch border is printed with several floral stripes on one piece of cloth. The overall diagonal grid quilting pattern is very closely worked at 13 stitches per inch.
Hephzibah (Hepzibah – Hepsaba – Hepsibah) Jenkins was the daughter of Capt. Daniel Jenkins, a Revolutionary War officer, and Hephzibah 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 raised a large family on the island. Hephzibah 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 seventheenth 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, it 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.T16009
accession number
298698
catalog number
T16009
This white counterpane was made for Mary T. Barnes’s dower chest in 1850. She married Gen. John Bratton Erwin in 1866. The 20-inch center of this counterpane is composed of 7-inch squares filled alternately with wineglass and diagonal grid quilting.
Description
This white counterpane was made for Mary T. Barnes’s dower chest in 1850. She married Gen. John Bratton Erwin in 1866. The 20-inch center of this counterpane is composed of 7-inch squares filled alternately with wineglass and diagonal grid quilting. The center is surrounded by an 8 ½-inch band quilted in a pattern of large triangles filled with shell quilting. This band in turn is framed by a band of 7-inch squares quilted in the same pattern as those of the center. Next comes another 8 ½-inch band quilted in a running vine pattern with shell quilting in the background. Finally, a border of 7-inch squares, again filled with wineglass and diagonal grid quilting, completes this counterpane. An inked inscription, “Mary T. Barnes 1850” is near one corner. Mary’s two daughters donated the precisely quilted counterpane in 1932.
Mary T. Barnes, the only child of Dixon Barnes (1816-1862) and Charlotte Brown Barnes, was born 16 October 1840 in Lancaster County, S. C. Her mother died when she was six. Her father, Col. Dixon Barnes, commanded the 12th South Carolina Infantry during the Civil War and died as a result of wounds during the Antietam Campaign when Mary was about 22.
After her marriage in 1866, she and John Bratton Erwin (1834-1916) settled on her plantation in Lancaster County, S. C. John, trained as a lawyer, fought in the Civil War, and after his marriage managed Mary’s large estates. They had six children, of whom three lived into adulthood. In 1876 John Erwin was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives and in 1886 to the Senate. Mary died in 1893 and John in 1916. Both are buried in the Camp Creek Methodist Church Cemetery, Lancaster County, S. C..
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T07045
accession number
120169
catalog number
T07045
This quilt, a variation of the “Irish Chain” pattern, was made for Mary T. Barnes’s dower chest in 1850. She married Gen. John Bratton Erwin in 1866. Blocks pieced in red, green, and white cottons were set such that the “chain” runs both horizontally and vertically.
Description
This quilt, a variation of the “Irish Chain” pattern, was made for Mary T. Barnes’s dower chest in 1850. She married Gen. John Bratton Erwin in 1866. Blocks pieced in red, green, and white cottons were set such that the “chain” runs both horizontally and vertically. Both plain and printed fabrics were used for the border which is quilted with parallel diagonal lines. An inked inscription, “Mary T. Barnes 1850” is in the upper left corner block. Mary’s two daughters donated the “Irish Chain” Quilt in 1933.
Mary T. Barnes, the only child of Dixon Barnes (1816-1862) and Charlotte Brown Barnes, was born 16 October 1840 in Lancaster County, S. C.. Her mother died when Mary was six. Her father, Col.l Dixon Barnes, commanded the 12th South Carolina Infantry during the Civil War. Colonel Barnes died as a result of wounds during the Antietam Campaign when Mary was about 22.
After her marriage in 1866, she and John Bratton Erwin (1834-1916) settled on her plantation in Lancaster County, S. C. John, trained as a lawyer, fought in the Civil War. After he married, he managed Mary’s large estates. They had six children of whom three lived into adulthood. In 1876 John Erwin was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives and in 1886 to the Senate. Mary died in 1893 and John in 1916. Both are buried in the Camp Creek Methodist Church Cemetery, Lancaster County, S. C.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T07141
accession number
122856
catalog number
T07141
This framed medallion quilt came from the Wallace and Stevenson families. The block-printed center motif is a tall basket of fruit surrounded by an irregular wreath of scrolls and fruit and 12 sprays of flowers, all cut from printed chintz fabrics.
Description
This framed medallion quilt came from the Wallace and Stevenson families. The block-printed center motif is a tall basket of fruit surrounded by an irregular wreath of scrolls and fruit and 12 sprays of flowers, all cut from printed chintz fabrics. These pieces were arranged and appliquéd on a plain white cotton fabric to provide the central focus. Three different borders of floral block-printed fabrics frame the center. This technique utilized small pieces of expensive printed chintz cotton to provide the overall design for a much larger bedcover. Various quilting patterns were used for the center and each of the borders to complete this quilt, a type often found in the Carolinas.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1825-1850
maker
unknown
ID Number
1995.0011.06
accession number
1995.0011
catalog number
1995.0011.06
“It [quilt] was made 125 years ago in Charleston, S.C., by my great-grandmother, Susan Ladson McPherson. It is in perfect condition as it has evidently never been used, only hoarded as an heirloom.
Description
“It [quilt] was made 125 years ago in Charleston, S.C., by my great-grandmother, Susan Ladson McPherson. It is in perfect condition as it has evidently never been used, only hoarded as an heirloom. I have no daughter to leave it to and it is too large and elaborate for everyday use.” So wrote the donor in 1943.
The original quilt had the center floral wreath encircled by rose vines with a few appliqued flowers around the edge. At a later point appliques were removed (evidenced by many needle-holes) and others added to the center (scrolled frames and vases of flowers) as well as roller-printed cotton borders.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
McPherson, Susan Ladson
ID Number
TE.T08886
accession number
165195
catalog number
T08886
This well-worn, white-work quilt bears an inked inscription: “Picked up by Horatio G. Coykendall Lieut. And Adj. 18th Wis.
Description
This well-worn, white-work quilt bears an inked inscription: “Picked up by Horatio G. Coykendall Lieut. And Adj. 18th Wis. Infty in South Carolina during Shermans March to the sea.” Donated by his granddaughter in 1970, she wrote: “My grandfather was a captain serving until Sherman and was on Shermans march thru Georgia to the sea. This quilt was picked up on this campaign and he has written in one corner this fact.”
The quilt is stuffed and corded. A center motif of crossed sprays of narrow-leaved vines is encircled by a meandering vine with leaves and clusters of berries. A 12-inch band of diagonal grid quilting frames the design.
Horatio G. Coykendall was born December 7, 1840, in Peoria County, Illinois. He served in several Illinois and Wisconsin military units during the Civil War. According to a Memoriam published by the Military Order of Loyal Legion of the United States Minnesota Commandery (Circular No. 7 Series 1906), he fought in many campaigns including Lexington, Shiloh, and the siege of Vicksburg. After the war he was involved in railroad building and was described as a man “of an iron will and great energy of character, which made for success in business . . . In the home life he was exemplary, kindly and sympathetic, a consistent Christian and worthy citizen.” He died at Rochester, Minnesota, March 22, 1906.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T15263.00S
catalog number
T15263S
accession number
292228

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