Nutfield Genealogy: Samplers with Family Trees and Family Registers

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Samplers with Family Trees and Family Registers

Think outside the box for unusual places for clues to your genealogy! Or perhaps I should say, “Think outside of the book!”

Did you know that many samplers worked by young girls in years past often had family trees or family registers? Did you know that mourning pieces were often embroidered by young women, in memory of a loved one who had passed away. All these types of samplers and embroideries contain names, dates, places and other clues valuable to genealogists.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society values these resources, and has created a data base of Family Samplers at their website www.americanancestors.org This is the Dan and Marty Campanelli Collection. You can access this database search directly at this link: http://www.americanancestors.org/search.aspx?Da=0503&utm_source=twgnewsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=twg672

I checked out this database last week. There is no browse feature, so instead of being able to peruse the surnames I decided to put in “New Hampshire” as a place name. Many hits came up, including this sampler worked by Eliza Hills of Londonderry, with her family carefully embroidered in cross stitch lettering. Once you have pulled up a sampler of interest, you can hit “next” to browse the collection.

Each sampler in this collection has an enlargeable color photograph and a one line biography of the stitcher, some had a family sketch, description of the sampler, and every sampler had a list of each person on the piece. I counted over thirty samplers, from many states, and even one stitched by a little boy, James H. Hoadley, in Connecticut 1844!

John Hills Born Oct. 3. 1799. Married to Jane

Anderson Dec. 17. 1807. She was Born Feb. 5. 1785.

And by him hath the following children

Names Births Deaths

Eliza Hills Born Sept. 27, 1808

Gilbert Hills Born May 20. 1811

Charles Hills Born Sept 23, 1813

Jane P. Hills Born Sept. 25, 1819

Next unto God Dear Parents I address

Myself to you in humble thankfulness

For all car and pans on me bestow’d

The means of learning unto me allow’d

Wrought by Eliza Hills in the 12 year of her age

Londonderry Sept. 1, 1820

You just might find your family in a database or museum collection like this. Many art museums and historical societies have collections of samplers. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has had exhibits of samplers, and their website has an online database at this link: http://www.mfa.org/search/collections and type the word “sampler” into the search box.

I’ve also seen samplers at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and at the Smithsonian Museums. Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth had a wonderful exhibit of nine samplers until February 1st (you just missed it!) They have a new exhibit open February 1 through April 25 "Needlework Samplers: Wrought by Tradition" that includes 72 samples from the 17th to the 20th century including the oldest sampler in the USA, the Loara Standish sampler. Keep your eyes open for exhibits of antique samplers at galleries and museum. Watch online for samplers for sale in auction catalogs, eBay and at antique shops.

Here is a second sampler I found at the NEHGS database, from a border town of Londonderry. It was wrought by Dolly Abbott of Litchfield, New Hampshire in 1817. It is a combination sampler/mourning piece if you notice the embroidered gravestone of her little sister Mary T. Abbott, died 1815, at the bottom (not quite two years before she completed this sampler). This one also has the death dates for most of the siblings, including herself in the black box. Someone must have embroidered in the death dates later.

JONATHAN ABBOTT Born Jan

20. 1772 Married to REBEKAH MASSEY

April 1794 Who died Dec. 19 1795 in the 24^th year of her age

And to DOLLY PARKER Dec 31 1800 Who Was Born

Sept 12 1779 the following are the names of their CHILDREN

NAMES BORN DIED

REBEKAH Nov. 21. 1795 July. 18. 1819

CLARISSA August. 20. 1801 Nov. 28. 1841

DOLLY April. 19. 1803 April. 27. 1855

ELIZA April. 5. 1805 August 3, 1838

EMILY Sept. 18. 1807

THOMAS P. May. 14. 1810 May. 24. 1810

SALLY P. Sept. 13. 1855 Sept. 22. 1811

MARY T. June. 17. 1815 Nov. 7. 1815

My heart exults while to the attentive eye

The curious needle spreads the enamel’d dye

While varying shades of the Pleasing task beguile

My friends applaud me and my Parents smile

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Dolly Abbott Litchfield New Hampshire Sept 18, 1817

Other blog posts I have done on school girl embroidery:

Sarah Henshaw’s Embroidery, daughter of Elizabeth Bill (my 3rd cousin, 6 generations removed)

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/06/sarah-henshaws-embroidery.html

Phebe Munroe’s Sampler, 1844 (my great great grandmother)

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/09/phebes-sampler-1844.html

Both sampler photographs above are from Family Tree Samplers. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. (From the collection of Dan and Marty Campanelli.)

Pilgrim Hall Museum,
75 Court Street,
Plymouth, Massachusetts
"Needlework Samplers: Wrought by Tradition" 72 samplers from the 17th to the 20th Century, including the Loara Standish sampler- February 1 - April 25, 7 days a week, 9:30 - 4:30.
http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/

UPDATE 20 February 2014 Flickr album of the NEHGS Campanelli Collection
http://www.flickr.com/photos/110664726@N08/sets/72157641266541014/

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http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/samplers-with-family-trees-and-family.html