Elizabeth Carlin (attr.); overshot coverlet; c. 1820-1830; Tennessee

Description:

This red, white, and blue overshot coverlet was woven in the “Tennessee Trouble” pattern. The ground warp is a white single Z-spun cotton. The ground weft is single Z-spun cotton. The supplementary pattern weft is single Z-spun wool in blue and red. The coverlet is hemmed along the top and bottom. The coverlet was constructed of two panels woven as one length, cut, and seamed together to create the finished width. The seam sewn together with white cotton thread using a back stitch. The hems have been redone as is common with use. This coverlet descended through the donor’s family from Tennessee to California. The donor’s father received the coverlet from his mother, Margaret Ellen Maddux Hogins at her death in 1911. Margaret and her husband, Bailey Peyton Hogin had moved to California in 1871 and brought the coverlet with them from Tennessee. Margaret’s parents were Thomas Maddux and Elizabeth Garrett who moved to Smith County, Tennessee from Virginia in 1833. Family legend holds that this coverlet was woven by Elizabeth Carlin (b. 1797), the mother of Thomas Maddux.