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. 

Learn more about the quilt collection and step behind the scenes with a video tour.

1840 - 1860 Clarissa Penn's Silk Quilt

Attached to this quilt when it was donated in 1975 was a note: “Made of Wedding and ‘Second Day’ dresses belonging to Mrs. William Penn (nee Clarissa Tarleton,) of St. Mary’s County, Maryland.
Description
Attached to this quilt when it was donated in 1975 was a note: “Made of Wedding and ‘Second Day’ dresses belonging to Mrs. William Penn (nee Clarissa Tarleton,) of St. Mary’s County, Maryland. (Circa 1800).” While many of the fabrics in this quilt are from the mid-19th century, the pale yellow and pearl-grey silks are possibly of an earlier date. They show wear and darning. Clara Tarlton married William Penn on March 7, 1809, in St Mary’s County, Maryland. Perhaps years later she fashioned this quilt using some of her wedding trousseau.
The pale yellow eight-pointed star in the center is set off by a purple ground and peach border. Seven more colorful borders frame the center. Meandering and feathered vines, bowknots, and flowers, as well as diagonal grid and parallel line patterns used for the quilting, further delineate the borders. The quilt has been relined with glazed cotton, replacing the original lining of grey-green wool. The quilting was originally done in yellow and ivory silk. Later quilting utilized various colors of silk thread, and was quilted through both linings. The adept use of color enhances the geometric balance of this quilt which preserved the fabric mementoes of a special event.
While it is not known that Clarissa was a Quaker, the quilt is typical of Quaker silk quilts of the early 19th century. These were made of solid colors, often expensive silks and/or remnants of wedding dresses. Quilts such as Clarissa’s were treasured as decorative and commemorative items and subsequently well cared for.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17738
accession number
319017
catalog number
T17738

1841 Ann Bender Snyder's Child's Quilt

This white-work child's quilt belonged to Ann Bender Snyder in the 1840s, whether it was intended for her own child is not known. Forty years later Ann Bender Snyder gave the quilt to her god daughter, Nina Knode, as a baptismal gift when she was six months old.
Description
This white-work child's quilt belonged to Ann Bender Snyder in the 1840s, whether it was intended for her own child is not known. Forty years later Ann Bender Snyder gave the quilt to her god daughter, Nina Knode, as a baptismal gift when she was six months old. Nina Knode Heft always felt that it was a "museum piece" and that "after she was gone nobody would be interested in taking care of [it] in the same manner as she had." William Heft, Nina Knode's husband, followed his wife's wishes and donated it in her name to the Museum in 1940.
The all white cotton quilt has a center medallion consisting of a basket of fruit above the quilted initials "A B S" enclosed in a feathered vine. This in turn is surrounded by an undulating vine bearing grapes, flowers, and pineapples. Stems and straight lines are stuffed with cotton roving. The border has a zigzag row of pointed oval leaves. Three sides of the quilt are edged with a 3-inch netted fringe.
Ann Bender was born in about 1830, and married Oliver H. Snyder on 15 September 1847. In 1848 they had a daughter, Alice, who died at age five in 1853. Both Ann and Oliver Snyder lived in Funkstown, Maryland. Both died in 1887 and are buried in the Funkstown Public Cemetery.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1841
quilter
Snyder, Ann Bender
ID Number
TE.T08434
accession number
157749
catalog number
T08434

1841 - 1844 Mary Taylor's Album Quilt Top

The large center block of this album quilt is inscribed in ink: “Hester Willard To her Sister Mary Norriston April 12 1842.” Hester’s sister would have been Mary H. (?) Taylor.
Description
The large center block of this album quilt is inscribed in ink: “Hester Willard To her Sister Mary Norriston April 12 1842.” Hester’s sister would have been Mary H. (?) Taylor. Almost all of the other 68 pieced and appliquéd blocks contain an inked or stamped signature, and many are dated between 1841 and 1844. Additionally many are inscribed with verse from hymns or period literature expressing parting and remembrance. The signatures on the quilt blocks are those of relatives, neighbors, and friends. They lived either in Lower Dublin in Philadelphia County or in the city of Philadelphia, except for Mary’s sisters, Hester Willard and Emily Taylor, who lived in Norristown, Pa, a suburb of Philadelphia.
All of the 68 pieced and appliquéd blocks are different, creating the sampler effect. Both traditional motifs and delightful original designs are represented. These are arrayed around a 17 x 18 1/4-inch center square. An unfinished quilt top, evidence indicates that it was reassembled at some time. Four blocks have been enlarged with fabrics that appear to be of a later date (1875-1900). The fabrics are mainly roller-printed dress fabrics with some furnishing chintzes, there are no plain-colored cottons.
Mary was probably the daughter of Thomas and Susan Wright Taylor. Neither Thomas nor Susan is listed in the 1850 Census. Earlier, Susan is listed as head of household in the 1830 and 1840 Census for Lower Dublin, Philadelphia, Pa. Many of the Wright family members are buried in the cemetery at the Pennyback Baptist Church which was first named the Lower Dublin Baptist Church. It was the first Baptist Church in Philadelphia. We know no further information about Mary Taylor ---whether she had married, gone west, or died.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1841-1844
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T14870
catalog number
T14870
accession number
282796

1842 Nancy Ward Butler's "Tombstone" Quilt

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

1843 Hannah Nicholson's Album Quilt

Members of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, presented Hannah C. Nicholson with this album quilt made in 1843. She was 19 years old at the time and would shortly marry Howell Grave in 1845.
Description
Members of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, presented Hannah C. Nicholson with this album quilt made in 1843. She was 19 years old at the time and would shortly marry Howell Grave in 1845. A descendent wrote at the time of donation: “The quilt has been carefully tended since that time and regarded as an heirloom by our family.”
In the mid-nineteenth century, album quilts with inscriptions and signatures were often made to celebrate an important event, and provide a textile record of friends and family. The forty-one appliquéd blocks and one inked block on this quilt are inscribed with names, dates, and places. Names of Hannah’s paternal relatives, Nicholson, Miller, Biddle, and Parrish, predominate.
The quilt’s inscriptions indicate that some blocks were contributed by women in the name of relatives or young children, e.g. “for her brother” or “for her daughter.” When the block was for a son or daughter, the age was also added. The dates are given in the style of month, date and year with many of them just “8 Mo 1843.” Most of the places inked on the blocks are from the Philadelphia area, with a few from New Jersey (Woodbury, Bordentown, Pleasant Hill, and Salem). Although Hannah was born and lived in Indiana, her father was from New Jersey.
The quilt is composed of forty-nine pieced and appliquéd blocks. The blocks are made with glazed, unglazed, and roller-printed cottons. These were joined by a 2 ½-inch glazed printed-stripe sashing. The same printed cotton is used for the border, providing a cohesive grid-like framework for the blocks. The quilting pattern is an overall diagonal grid, quilted 8 or 9 stitches per inch.
Hannah C. Nicholson was born in Indiana on November 19, 1824, to John and Esther Nicholson. On August 14, 1845 Hannah married Howell Grave (1818-1894) in Wayne County, Indiana. Howell’s ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Indiana. His parents and grandparents arrived in the same year Indiana achieved statehood, 1816, and he was born there in 1818.
Howell and Hannah farmed in Wayne County and raised four children, three girls (Esther, Emma, and Josephine) and a son (Vernon). In the early 1860s they moved to Richmond, Indiana, where for twenty years Howell was one of the principal iron merchants in the city. By the mid-1880s he was in the insurance and real estate businesses. Two of their daughters are listed as teachers on the 1870 census, while Vernon continued to farm. After Hannah was widowed in 1894, she lived with her daughter and son-in-law in Wayne, Indiana. She died there on February 13, 1912, and is buried in the Earlham Cemetery Richmond, Indiana.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1843
maker
unknown
ID Number
1986.0657.01
catalog number
1986.0657.01
accession number
1986.0657

1845 Mary Jane Moran's Bride's Quilt

This silk quilt, delicately appliquéd and embroidered with baskets and sprays of fruit and flowers, was made by Mary Jane Green Moran when she was a young bride in Baltimore, Maryland.
Description
This silk quilt, delicately appliquéd and embroidered with baskets and sprays of fruit and flowers, was made by Mary Jane Green Moran when she was a young bride in Baltimore, Maryland. The blocks are set diagonally and separated by a white silk sashing appliquéd and embroidered with bud-and-leaf vines, echoed by the undulating leafy vine in the border. The silk top is closely quilted, 12 to 15 stitches per inch, to a muslin backing. It was said that 1,001 skeins of silk thread were used in the quilting. A woven and knotted golden-colored silk fringe is stitched to three sides of this example of mid-nineteenth- century needlework.
Mary Jane (Mrs. Dr. Moran) exhibited her needlework at various fairs and exhibitions. Her entries won awards. It was noted in one Maryland Exhibition in 1851 that the silk quilt with scarlet lining she made and exhibited "is entitled to notice for the labor and industry evinced." This quilt in the Collection is a fine example of her work.
At the time of Mary Jane Green’s marriage in 1846 to Dr. Jonathan J. Moran, he was a resident physician at Washington University College Hospital in Baltimore. It was in that capacity that he attended the dying Edgar Allan Poe in October 1849. Dr. Moran in later years wrote several versions of those last hours that he spent with Edgar Allan Poe, and lectured on the topic as well. From the accounts, it appears that Mary Moran also nursed the dying Poe, reading to him as well as preparing his shroud.
After the closing of the hospital in 1851, the Morans moved to Falls Church, Virginia, where they were both active in the community and the Dulin Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Jonathan Moran became the first mayor of Falls Church in 1875 and served until 1877. He died in 1888, and Mary Jane died the following year.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1845
quilter
Moran, Mary Jane Green
ID Number
TE.T07140
accession number
123393
catalog number
T07140

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

1846 Mary C. Nelson's "Eagle" Quilt

Mary C. Nelson of Saratoga County, New York, appliquéd her patriotic quilt with an American eagle and 28 stars representing the number of states in 1846. Texas had become a state in December 1845.
Description
Mary C. Nelson of Saratoga County, New York, appliquéd her patriotic quilt with an American eagle and 28 stars representing the number of states in 1846. Texas had become a state in December 1845. The eagle motif has been symbolic of the United States since 1782, when an image of the bird was adopted for official purposes.
The appliquéd stars and eagle are made of discharge- and roller-printed cottons. The blue, brown, and white printed cotton used for the eagle has an effect of feathers. The 8-inch border is composed of six stripes, two each of a red ground print, a blue-and-white, and a plain white cotton contributing to the patriotic theme. Both the eagle and stars are outlined with a row of quilting very close to the appliquéd edge. Shell-pattern quilting enhances the eagle. The ground is quilted in a diagonal grid pattern of 8 stitches per inch. Mary’s name is cross-stitched in red below the eagle “MARY C. NELSON 22 1846.” The “22” possibly refers to her age.
Mary Caroline Nelson was born March 22, 1824, in Saratoga Springs, Dutchess County, New York. She was the youngest of six children. Her father, Gilbert Nelson, had served in the War of 1812. On June 9, 1847 Mary married Platt Sutherland Pine (1816-1884) and moved to Sandy Plains, N.Y. They had five children. According to the 1884 Beers’ History of Greene County, in 1853 Platt S. Pine purchased the homestead property of his father and made many improvements. He was among the most prosperous and successful farmers in the area. Later in 1861 he built a boarding house in South Cairo, N.Y., near the railroad station, with magnificent views of the mountains and surrounding country. Mary died in January 1894 and is buried in the Catskill Rural Cemetery.
Annie Pine, Mary’s granddaughter, visited the Smithsonian in 1937, and afterward wrote: “I . . . enjoyed viewing the quilts and saw you had none like this one and was told by the lady I could send it [Mary’s “Eagle” Quilt] there and it would be put with the others.” The quilt was donated in 1937 and has been featured in several exhibits.
In the 1960s, over 100 years after it was made, Mary’s “Eagle” Quilt was faithfully reproduced by a quilting cooperative in Kentucky. Nancy Cole (Breathitt County), Mary Dunn (Wolfe County), Maude Rose, Media Barnett (Owsley County), among others, were instrumental in organizing training programs and building the cooperative. A VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) project, the Grassroots Quilting Co-op, enabled the quilt makers to obtain wholesale or donated fabrics, expand their market, and increase their earnings.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
maker
Nelson, Mary C.
ID Number
TE.T07957
accession number
143844
catalog number
T07957

1847 Rev. Nadal's "Baltimore Album" Quilt

“I have in my possession a quilt that was presented to my great-grandfather, Bernard Nadal, by the female members of his congregation when he was a minister . . . . It seems to me that it should be in a museum as the workmanship is exquisite . . .
Description
“I have in my possession a quilt that was presented to my great-grandfather, Bernard Nadal, by the female members of his congregation when he was a minister . . . . It seems to me that it should be in a museum as the workmanship is exquisite . . . .” wrote Miss Constance Dawson in 1983 when the quilt top was donated to the Smithsonian.
The Ladies of the Columbia Street Methodist Church congregation presented this “Baltimore Album” quilt top to Rev. Bernard H. Nadal in 1847. He had been a pastor at the church in Baltimore between 1845 and 1846 and left to attend Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1848.
“Album” or “friendship” quilts were popular in the mid-nineteenth century. The complex appliquéd blocks, typical of the Baltimore style, as well as signatures, poems, and drawings that grace this quilt top express the high regard the women must have had for Reverend Nadal.
Variations of baskets, wreaths, vases, and floral designs are appliquéd on 17-inch blocks. An appliquéd flowering vine on the 9-inch border frames the twenty-five blocks on this quilt top which has neither filling nor lining. All of the blocks have embroidered or inked details and a name with often an additional poem and drawing. Almost all of the drawings, seemingly done by the same hand, are of a bird, generally a dove, with a ribbon or book sometimes on a monument or urn. These are motifs frequently found on “album” or “friendship” quilts in the mid-nineteenth century. A red Bible dated “1847” in the quilt’s center is inscribed: “To Rev. Bernard H. Nadal. Baltimore.” An inked drawing of a dove with a ribbon containing the name “Susan M. Shillingburg” is above the Bible and the inscription:
“Accept my gift affection brings
Though poor the offering be
It flows from Friendship purest spring
A tribute let it be.”
Probably presented as a farewell gift, the inscriptions on this quilt top express friendship, good fortune in the future, and the wish to “forget me not.”
Bernard H. Nadal was born in Talbot County, Maryland, in 1812. His father, from Bayonne, France, was said to have freed all his slaves and possibly influenced Bernard, who later had a reputation as a strong antislavery advocate and was an admirer of Lincoln.
Bernard Nadal apprenticed as a saddler for four years but joined the ministry in 1835 at age 23. It was noted that he rode his circuit using a saddle he had made. He served churches in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1841. In 1855 he became a professor of ethics and English literature at Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University) and remained there for three years before returning to pastorates in Washington, New Haven and Brooklyn.
In 1867 Nadal became Professor of Historical Theology at Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, New Jersey. He married Sarah Jane Mays and they had nine children. His career was cut short in 1870, when he died after a short illness at his home in Madison, New Jersey. In addition to many lectures, addresses, sermons, and newspaper editorials that were “continually pouring from his tireless pen,” he wrote The New Life Dawning, and other Discourses of Bernard H. Nadal published in 1873. He was described by colleagues as a person who “enjoyed that peculiar popularity among his students which belongs only to the teacher who possesses the heart to enter deeply into sympathy with young men, and also the power to inspire them with his own devotion to earnest work.” He must have made a similar impression on the women whose album quilt top indicates their high esteem for his work.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1847
referenced
Nadal, Bernard H.
quilter
unknown
ID Number
1983.0866.01
catalog number
1983.0866.01
accession number
1983.0866

1847 Emily Holbert's "Vanity of Vanities" Quilt

Emily Holbert put not only her name, date, and location on this quilt, but also two maxims that held significance for her. Boldly and precisely appliquéd in the border: “INDUSTRY, AND PROPER IMPROVEMENT OF TIME 1847 VANITY OF VANITIES, ALL IS VANITY.
Description
Emily Holbert put not only her name, date, and location on this quilt, but also two maxims that held significance for her. Boldly and precisely appliquéd in the border: “INDUSTRY, AND PROPER IMPROVEMENT OF TIME 1847 VANITY OF VANITIES, ALL IS VANITY. EMILY HOLBERT’S QUILT; WORKED JANUARY, A.D. 1847. CHESTER, ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.” “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” is from Ecclesiastes I:2. “Industry, and proper improvement of time are the duties of the young” was an expression that could be found in mid-nineteenth-century school books. Similar religious and moralistic sayings are found on samplers, embroidered pictures, and other needlework items, that were made by young women in the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries.
This quilt consists of twenty 14-inch blocks, each appliquéd with a medallion surrounded by three-lobed leaves, iris, and tulip motifs. The blocks are set with a 2-inch printed green sashing. The 9¾-inch-wide border contains the appliquéd inscriptions on all four sides of the quilt, sandwiched between a band of appliquéd leaf, tulip, and cherry motifs and a pieced sawtooth edge. Roller-printed fabrics are used for the appliqué work; the lining is white cotton with a cotton filling. All the appliquéd motifs, letters, and numbers are outline-quilted, and the leaves have quilted veins. Open spaces are filled with quilted motifs of scrolls, botehs, oak leaves, and hearts; 8 stitches per inch.
Emily Holbert, born October 15, 1820, was the daughter of James Holbert (1788-1871) and Susan Drake Holbert (1791-1851 or 1854). Emily was born and lived in Chester, Orange County, New York. On October 30, 1851 she married Theodore Finch, son of John and Catherine Anne Woodward Finch. Theodore was born about 1827 and died in January 1852 at the age of 24, a few months after his marriage to Emily.
There is no record that Emily remarried, and she died in 1858, only six years after Theodore. In 1988, the quilt she so proudly put her name to was donated to the Smithsonian by Mr. and Mrs. John Beard Ecker. Emily Holbert was Mrs. Theodora Ecker’s great-aunt. At the same time another quilt from the same family, Susan Holbert’s “Little Sister’s" quilt, was also presented to the Museum.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1847
quilter
Holbert, Emily
ID Number
1988.0245.01
catalog number
1988.0245.01
accession number
1988.0245

1847 Mary Hill's Album Quilt

The large central square contains the inscription: “Presented to Mrs. Mary B. Hill as an expression of esteem by the Ladies of Maltaville.” Mary B. Hill was the wife of Reverend William Hill (1814-1851) of the Presbyterian-Congregational Church of Maltaville, New York.
Description
The large central square contains the inscription: “Presented to Mrs. Mary B. Hill as an expression of esteem by the Ladies of Maltaville.” Mary B. Hill was the wife of Reverend William Hill (1814-1851) of the Presbyterian-Congregational Church of Maltaville, New York. She was born November 13, 1816, to Benton (1786-?) and Elizabeth Barnard in Litchfield, Connecticut. She married on July 13, 1836 and they had one son, Roland. Mary died May 5, 1862, in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1847, women in the church made, joined, lined, and quilted sixty blocks, in addition to the dedicatory center block, to create this example of an album quilt.
Album quilt blocks often contain name, date, or place, and sometimes a poem or verse of special meaning. Almira E. Olmstead added this to her block:
The Tulip and the Butterfly
Appear in gayer coats than I
Let me be dressed fine as I will
Flies, worms, and flowers, exceed me still.
The lines are from “Against Pride in Clothes,” published in 1720 by Isaac Watts (1674–1748), a well-known English hymn writer whose verse is often found on quilts of the period.
The appliquéd blocks are embellished with embroidered details in addition to the inked inscriptions. Flowers, leaves, hearts, stars, crescents, double ovals around the signatures, and other motifs are found in the quilting. As a token of appreciation, this quilt displays the fine quilting skills of the “Ladies of Maltaville.”
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1847
quilter
Ladies of the Presbyterian Church
ID Number
TE.T06717
catalog number
T06717.000
accession number
109459

1849 Jane Barr's Floral Appliqued Quilt

A quilted and stuffed block on this mid-nineteenth-century quilt bears the inscription “JANE BARR JULY 1849.” Although a gift to the Smithsonian from her niece, Nancy Angelina Ross of Mars, Pennsylvania, in 1954, little more is known about Jane or the significance of the date.The
Description
A quilted and stuffed block on this mid-nineteenth-century quilt bears the inscription “JANE BARR JULY 1849.” Although a gift to the Smithsonian from her niece, Nancy Angelina Ross of Mars, Pennsylvania, in 1954, little more is known about Jane or the significance of the date.
The quilt is composed of 12-inch blocks appliquéd with crossed flowers. Red-, green- and yellow-ground roller-printed fabrics were used for the design. The pattern has characteristics of both “Meadow Daisy” and “Mexican Rose” motifs. Intervening white blocks are elaborately quilted in different geometric and floral motifs, 9 stitches per inch. A flowering vine delineates the border of this beautifully crafted quilt from Pennsylvania.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1849
maker
Barr, Jane
ID Number
TE.T11101
accession number
201232
catalog number
T11101

1850 Benoni Pearce's Album Quilt

This album quilt has the inscription "Benoni Pearce Pawling 1850" plainly appliquéd across the top. Whether to celebrate an engagement, announce his availability for marriage, or as a token of friendship it is not evident why this quilt so boldly bears the name, Benoni Pearce.
Description
This album quilt has the inscription "Benoni Pearce Pawling 1850" plainly appliquéd across the top. Whether to celebrate an engagement, announce his availability for marriage, or as a token of friendship it is not evident why this quilt so boldly bears the name, Benoni Pearce. It is known that album quilts were quite popular in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1850 family and friends in the Pawling, New York area joined together to create this example well expressed by one of the inscriptions: "This Humble Tribute I Present - My Friendship to Portray." The needlework, artistry and many inscriptions on the Benoni Pearce Album Quilt make it an important part of the collection.
The eighty-one distinctive blocks of the quilt represent a great many of the quilting techniques and patterns popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Fifty-eight blocks are appliquéd, thirteen are pieced, eight are pieced and appliquéd, one is reverse appliquéd and one is quilted and stuffed. It is constructed mainly of roller printed cottons. The motifs of each of the eighty-one quilt blocks differ, from basic pieced star patterns to free form designs such as a girl jumping rope, a deer or trees. Details on many of the blocks are added in ink or embroidery. The quilting patterns also represent a variety of styles with quilted symbols of hearts, flowers, and various geometric shapes found throughout the quilt.
The many contributors to this quilt have appliquéd, inked or embroidered their signatures to individual blocks, often adding dates, place names, relationship to quilt recipient Benoni Pearce, and even poems. One quilt block depicting a barren gnarled tree expresses the following sentiment:
"I am a broken aged tree
That long has stood the wind and rain
But now has come a cruel blast
And my last hold on earth is gone
No leaf of mine shall greet the spring
No Summers sun exalt my bloom
But I must lie before the storm
And others plant them in my room.
Presented by Your Aunt Anna Dodge."
("Lament For James, Earl of Glencairn," Robert Burns)
Other inscriptions express conventional sentiments. It is through the many dated inscriptions that some of the history of Benoni Pearce's Album Quilt has been established.
Benoni Pearce married Emma Stark in 1851, farmed in the Pawling, Dutchess County, New York, area, had two daughters and died in 1871. By 1873 his widow, Emma, had moved to Washington D.C. with their two daughters and was working as a clerk for the U.S. government, one of the early government girls. Emma Stark Pearce continued to live in Washington D.C. and worked in various government offices until her death in 1899 at age seventy. After she died the quilt remained with her daughter, Jessie, who never married. The other daughter, Augusta, apparently died at a young age. Jessie also lived in Washington D.C., kept boarders and was listed in the city directory as a china painter or artist until her own death in 1907. It was in Jessie's handwritten will that mention was made of "my album quilt . . . ." probably the one that was eventually donated to the Museum in 1972 by descendants. According to the donors they felt that the Museum was better able to preserve and care for the quilt and that such a beautiful object, Benoni Pearce's Album Quilt, should be shared and valued.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850
quilter
Pearce, Benoni, friends of
ID Number
TE.T16323
accession number
304519
catalog number
T16323

1850 Mary T. Barnes's Dower Counterpane

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

1850 Mary T. Barnes's "Irish Chain" Quilt

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

1850 - 1851 Eliza Jane Baile's "Bride's" Quilt

Eliza Jane Baile lovingly stitched and inscribed this cotton album quilt top, finishing a few weeks after her marriage to Levi Manahan in 1851. Original patterns of wreaths of strawberries and flowers are framed by a strawberry vine along the quilt border.
Description
Eliza Jane Baile lovingly stitched and inscribed this cotton album quilt top, finishing a few weeks after her marriage to Levi Manahan in 1851. Original patterns of wreaths of strawberries and flowers are framed by a strawberry vine along the quilt border. Three blocks incorporate inked inscriptions within scrolls. On one corner, one may read “E J Baile. Commenced June 1850” and on the opposite corner, “Finished October 30 185l.” A third scroll has the following sentiment carefully penned:
“Sweett flowers bright as Indian Sky
Yet mild as Beauty’s soft blue eye;
Thy charms tho’ unassuming shed /
A modest splendoure o’er the mead.”
Great attention was given to the completion of this quilt. The sawteeth of the border are individually appliquéd and the strawberries stuffed. All of the motifs have outline quilting, with closely quilted background lines, 10 stitches to the inch. The overall design is further enhanced with embroidery and small details drawn in ink or watercolor.
Eliza Jane Baile, the daughter of Abner Baile (1807-1894) and Frances Pole Baile (1813-1893) was born February 13, 1832, in Maryland. According to Eliza’s obituary, her mother was a descendent of Edward III, King of England. At age nineteen, Eliza married Levi Manahan ((1824-1893) on October 11, 1851. They reared eight children on a farm near Westminster, Carroll County, Maryland.
Eliza was not only an accomplished quilter, she was also known as a folk artist. One of her oil paintings, Stone Chapel of the Methodist Church is at the Historical Society of Carroll County. Other paintings are owned and treasured by her descendents. An active member of the Stone Chapel United Methodist Church, Eliza also founded a Ladies Mite Society and served as president for 50 years. Mite Societies were voluntary organizations that were established in the nineteenth century to raise monies for mission work.
Eliza died June 25, 1923, age 91, at her home in Westminster and is buried at the Stone Chapel Cemetery. As her obituary in the Daily News, Frederick, Maryland, notes, “Her Christian character endeared her to many friends. She was well known as an artist.” In 1954, Eliza’s youngest daughter, Addie, donated her mother’s quilt to the Smithsonian. Eliza's artistic abilities are well represented in the “Bride’s Quilt” she designed and made for her marriage.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1851
maker
Baile, Eliza Jane
ID Number
TE.T011149
accession number
202673
catalog number
T11149

1850 - 1854 Mary C. Pickering's Applique Quilt

In the mid-nineteenth century, Mary Carpenter Pickering made this appliquéd quilt while living in St. Clairsville, Ohio. According to family information, she began work on the quilt when a friend, John Bruce Bell, left St.
Description
In the mid-nineteenth century, Mary Carpenter Pickering made this appliquéd quilt while living in St. Clairsville, Ohio. According to family information, she began work on the quilt when a friend, John Bruce Bell, left St. Clairsville to accompany a wagon train to the Oregon Territory. He returned eight years later, and they were married. Her grandson, Robert S. Bell, wrote that Mary made the quilt “to make the time go more quickly” while John Bell was away in the Oregon Territory. The quilt is said to have won a blue ribbon at the Ohio State Fair in the early 1850s.
Baskets of flowers are appliquéd on nine blocks. These motifs are raw-edged, held down by close buttonhole stitching. The blocks alternate with all-white blocks that feature stuffed motifs of fruit and flower baskets, grapes and leaves, sprays of leaves and flowers, and a wreath. An appliquéd flowering-vine border completes the overall design of the quilt.
The background quilting patterns are parallel horizontal and diagonal lines about ¼-inch apart, 13 stitches to the inch. Roller-printed cottons are used for appliquéd motifs; the lining is plain white cotton. “Mary C. Pickering. St. Clairsville Ohio” is prominently back-stitched in black silk on one of the white blocks.
Mary Carpenter Pickering was born in Belmont County, Ohio, in 1831. She married John Bruce Bell on September 3, 1861, at New Athens, Ohio. Shortly after their marriage, John Bell joined the Union Army in 1862 for service in the Civil War. He was honorably discharged from the army in 1863 with disabilities that lasted for the rest of his life. They moved to Keokuk County, Iowa, in 1864 and raised nine children, three still living in the 1890s. Mary died in 1900. Her prize-winning appliquéd quilt was handed down in her family for three generations before being donated to the Smithsonian in 1981.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1854
quilter
Pickering, Mary Carpenter
ID Number
1981.0334.01
catalog number
1981.0334.01
accession number
1981.0334

1850 - 1860 Esther Coates Wileman's Child's Quilt

Elizabeth Coates Wileman made this pieced and appliquéd child's quilt in the mid-nineteenth century while living in Ohio. Sixteen blocks are pieced of red, green, yellow and white printed cottons in a Carpenter's Wheel pattern.
Description
Elizabeth Coates Wileman made this pieced and appliquéd child's quilt in the mid-nineteenth century while living in Ohio. Sixteen blocks are pieced of red, green, yellow and white printed cottons in a Carpenter's Wheel pattern. These blocks are set diagonally with blue and white printed cotton squares and triangles. Two appliquéd sawtooth edges, one red and one green, complete the 5½-inch border.
Esther Coates, a Quaker, was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania in 1817. She married Abram G. Wileman in 1844 in Massillon, Ohio, they divorced in 1858. They had two children Flora born in 1850, who died as a young child and Erasmus Darwin born in 1854. The quilt was probably made for Flora. Abram G. Wileman, a physician and war hero, served in the Civil War and was killed in 1863. Esther studied medicine at Penn Medical University in Philadelphia and received her degree in 1855. She practiced medicine in New Jersey. Esther died in 1873 and is buried in the Drumore Friends Cemetery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The quilt was donated to the Museum in 1964 by Dr. Lorin E. Kerr, Jr. the great grandson of Esther.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850-1860
quilter
Wileman, Esther Coates
ID Number
TE.T13472
accession number
254704
catalog number
T13472

1850 - 1860 Susan Holbert's "Little Sister's Quilt"

Stenciled in the center of the lining of this quilt is “S. T. Holbert” which stands for Susan Theresa Holbert.
Description
Stenciled in the center of the lining of this quilt is “S. T. Holbert” which stands for Susan Theresa Holbert. Her older sister, Emily, made another quilt in the Smithsonian’s collection, the “Vanity of Vanities” quilt.” Might Emily have made this quilt for her younger sister as well? Or were they both accomplished quilt makers?
The center of the quilt is a sunburst or star 26½ inches in diameter, pieced of triangles and diamonds. Sixteen appliquéd feathered plumes emerge from the outer edge of the sunburst. Between the plumes are sixteen small 4-inch pieced sunbursts. A 3/8-inch band of red cotton print separates the field from the border. Along the inner edge of this band are birds with flowers and buds, and in each of the four inner corners is a pieced and appliquéd “Carolina Lily” block. The 7½-inch border contains an appliquéd undulating oak leaf vine.
The fabrics used are roller- and discharge-printed cottons. The quilt has a filling of cotton with a white cotton lining. All the pieced and appliquéd motifs have double-outline quilting and the open spaces are filled with motifs of flowers, running vines, leaves, sprigs, fleur-de-lis, botehs, and hearts; each quilted 8 stitches to the inch. This quilt’s dramatic design incorporates a popular mid-19th century motif: plumes or the “Princess Feather” pattern, in the then-fashionable red and green color combination.
Susan Theresa Holbert was born in Chester, Orange County, New York, on February 24, 1834. She was the daughter of James Holbert, a farmer, and Susan Drake Holbert. They had another daughter, Teresa, who died in 1816 at the age of three and Susan was probably named after her. Susan married William Alfred Lawrence in 1861, and they had a son, Theodore (1862-1947). Susan died in 1871. This quilt was donated to the Smithsonian by Mr. and Mrs. John Beard Ecker. Mrs Theodora Ecker is Susan’s granddaughter. At the same time another quilt from the same family, Emily Holbert’s “Vanity of Vanities” quilt, was also donated to the Smithsonian.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850-1860
quilter
Holbert, Susan
Holbert, Emily
ID Number
1988.0245.02
catalog number
1988.0245.02
accession number
1988.0245

1850 - 1875 Fannie Gatewood Grimes's "Harvest Sun" Wool Quilt

Fannie Gatewood Grimes pieced nine 21-inch examples of the “Harvest Sun” pattern (also known as “Prairie Star” or “Star of Bethlehem”) to fashion this wool quilt in the third quarter of the nineteenth century.
Description
Fannie Gatewood Grimes pieced nine 21-inch examples of the “Harvest Sun” pattern (also known as “Prairie Star” or “Star of Bethlehem”) to fashion this wool quilt in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. In 1988 it was donated to the Smithsonian by her granddaughter, Mary Harding Renshaw.
The “Harvest Sun” blocks were pieced with wool fabrics and set with a 6-inch dark green wool sashing. Contributing to the overall design, the 3½-inch borders are made with the same red wool that was used as a background for the pieced blocks. The lining is black twill-woven cotton. The quilting patterns consist of outline and diagonal grid, quilted 7 stitches per inch.
Frances (Fannie) Price Gatewood was the daughter of Fielding Gatewood (1787-1833?) and Nancy Williams Gatewood (b. 1791). She was born March 22, 1822 in Logan County, Kentucky, one of four children. Fannie married James T. Grimes (about 1814–1869) on December 19, 1840. They lived in Logan County where James was a sheriff and a farmer. Of their eight children, two died in childhood. Family information described James as a tall, red-headed Irishman with a temper, and Fannie as liking nothing more than smoking a pipe filled with cherry leaves. On the 1880 census, Fannie is head-of-household, keeping house in Keysburg, Logan County, for her son and daughter, their spouses, a granddaughter and her mother, Nancy, age 89. Her son is listed as a leaf tobacco dealer and her son-in-law as a distiller. Fannie died on December 11, 1914, at age 92, and is buried in the Grimes Cemetery in Logan County.
In 1993, Fannie’s “Harvest Sun” wool quilt was reproduced under license to Cabin Creek, a West Virginian quilting cooperative and sold through the Land’s End Catalog. This was in response to an outcry by American quilters who were concerned about the sale of Chinese reproductions of American quilts from the Smithsonian Collection. The reproduction “Harvest Sun” quilt was made by American hand quilters with cotton fabrics that were purchased from American mills.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
Grimes, Fannie Gatewood
ID Number
TE.T13540
catalog number
T13540
accession number
257664

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

1850 - 1875 Mary Maphis Copp's Pieced Quilt

Mary Maphis Copp pieced this cotton quilt in the mid-19th century. The center panel consists of alternating “Nine-patch” and plain white 6" blocks.
Description
Mary Maphis Copp pieced this cotton quilt in the mid-19th century. The center panel consists of alternating “Nine-patch” and plain white 6" blocks. It is framed by a border of 24 blocks in the“Sunflower” or “Blazing Star” pattern.
The sunflowers are unusual in that they have nineteen petals. The quilting patterns of outline, double-line diagonal grid, and parallel lines enhance the design. There is no separate binding; instead the back was brought to the front and whipstitched. The quilt is a distinctive combination of a simple pattern in the center panel with a more complicated pattern in the border blocks.
Mary C. [Catherine] Maphis was born September 8, 1831, to John H. and Fannie V. Headley Maphis in Woodstock, Va. She married George W. Copp (1825-1899), a farmer, on November 7, 1850. They settled at Fisher’s Hill, a small village near Strasburg, Va. George and Mary had eight children: Frances (1851-1943), John W. (1852-1917), William H. (b. 1854), David E. (1855-1926), Silas A. ( 1856-1926), Barbara R. (b. 1859), George V. (b. 1862), and Benjamin (b. 1872). According to family information, their home was the site of a Civil War battle. It was burned and all their belongings lost.
Fisher’s Hill was part of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign September 21-22, 1864. The Confederate Army retreated (casualty estimates of 1,235 to the Union’s 528) and left the Valley open to a “scorched earth” invasion in which dwellings and other buildings were burnt from Staunton to Strasburg, Virginia.
The Copp family eventually relocated to Strasburg. Mary died on February 11, 1886. She is buried in the Strasburg Presbyterian Church Cemetery. The quilt was donated to the National Museum by her granddaughter Mrs. Irene Copp Pifer, the daughter of Mary’s son, John W. Copp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
Copp, Mary C. Maphis
ID Number
TE.T13463
accession number
254850
catalog number
T13463

1850 - 1875 "Harvest Sun" Pieced Quilt

Each of the “Harvest Sun” patterned blocks has a “Le Moyne Star” in the center. The placement of the blocks gives the quilt an overall kaleidoscope effect. Fabrics in the quilt include both floral and geometric roller-printed cottons.
Description (Brief)
Each of the “Harvest Sun” patterned blocks has a “Le Moyne Star” in the center. The placement of the blocks gives the quilt an overall kaleidoscope effect. Fabrics in the quilt include both floral and geometric roller-printed cottons. Simple diagonal and parallel lines were used for the quilting pattern.
Probably made in Orange County, N. Y., the quilt was part of a much larger 1930s donation of over 180 textile-related objects. The donation included samplers, needlework tools, baskets, spinning wheels, and embroideries, among other items that are related to textile production in the 19th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T06881
accession number
115031
catalog number
T06881

1850 - 1875 Ellen Parsons's Pieced Quilt

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

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