The McKee-Boyles & Drunkard's Path Quilts

McKee-Boyles Quilt, est. c. 1880. Photograph by John Herr. Private Collection.

In the previous post of December 23rd, 2018, “Quaker Disownments and a Thistle Border Quilt,” you met Hannah Taylor Purcell whose husband, Lott, was disowned in 1834 for marrying Hannah  (identified in records as a “non-member”). Although Hannah and Lott have yet to be located in any subsequent Quaker records, they were both buried in the Quaker Upper Ridge Cemetery in Frederick County, Virginia.

Hannah’s Thistle Border Quilt was not the last of her quilting legacy. There are several quilts attributed to her daughter, Lydia Purcell McKee (1845-1924) and her granddaughter and namesake, Hannah V. McKee Boyles (1862-1953). Their quilts are of interest as nineteenth-century examples made by direct descendants of Quakers who lived along the nine-mile stretch of road known as Apple Pie Ridge in Frederick County, Virginia, (where many historical Quaker quilts were made).

We can often guess that a quilt was a multi-generational project when the estimated dates of their fabrics are decades apart but in this case, we have the oral history of their descendant. We also have US Federal Census Records. In 1880, grandmother Hannah Purcell lived right next door to Charles Boyles, the man her granddaughter would marry one year later, in 1881. Tracing them further, we find that all three women lived out their their lives in close proximity. It is easy to imagine them gathering to quilt.

 Hannah V. McKee Boyles and child. Private collection.

Although it does not contain any inscriptions, the McKee-Boyles Quilt was made in a pattern typical of signature album quilts. It measures 77 x 93 inches, and is exquisitely quilted.

McKee-Boyles Quilt, detail. Photograph by John Herr.

Another quilt attributed to the daughter and granddaughter of Hannah Taylor Purcell is the McKee-Boyles Drunkard’s Path Quilt. “This pattern is best known as the Drunkard's Path and this quilt was one that was made for the Temperance cause. Other names include Wanderer's Path in the Wilderness, Oregon Trail and Endless Trail.” (Breneman and Bull). To learn even more names that have been documented for this pattern, see Barbara Brackman's list (fourteen!) in her book, Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.

  
Drunkard's Path Quilt, est. 1880-1890. Photograph by John Herr.

This quilt measures 73 1/2 x 73 1/2 inches. We do not know what Lydia McKee and Hannah Boyles called it, and there is nothing to tie this particular quilt to the topic of "drunkards" but we do know it was a national issue as well as a local concern. There was an active Temperance Movement in the area. We also have an interesting account contemporary to this quilt from a Quaker quilter who lived in the same county as this quilt's makers.

In a letter to her daughter in the early 1880s Mary Jane Clevenger wrote: “I have piece[d a quilt] out of your old light dress and Willia’s dark [illegible], got red yarn and knapped it[…]. Ella Marple said I was to tell you she pieced six borders in your comfort and help[ed] half a day to quilt on it.” Mary Jane also wrote: “Grace Ferrell had a quilting yesterday and all the men were drunk.” In truth, we do not know more at this point about Grace Ferrell or the men who attended her quilting. They may not have been Quakers, since Friends were known to be very conservative about alcohol. Mary Jane's mention simply demonstrates that being drunk was a behavior worth noting. It also shows nineteenth-century men and women together at a quilting.

 Mary Jane Clevenger (1831-1904). Photograph courtesy of Barbara Harner Suhay.

Yet another Quaker woman from the same area as our quiltmakers, Rebecca Pidgeon, was photographed with friends who were active in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union ("WCTU"). Rebecca continued in the movement for decades. At the core of the organization was its mission to combat domestic violence. "Through education and example the WCTU hoped to obtain pledges of total  abstinence from alcohol, and later also tobacco and other drugs."

 Rebecca Pidgeon (at left) with the Wilders, some WCTU friends. Collection of the author.

For whatever reason Lydia McKee and Hannah Boyles chose to make a quilt in this pattern, we can appreciate its visual impact as well as its fine hand quilting in cross-hatches, diagonal rows and outline quilting.

 


Drunkard's Path Quilt, est. 1880-1890, details. Photographs by John Herr.

Notes and Sources:

All text and photographs on this site are by Mary Holton Robare unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved. ©Mary Holton Robare 2018.

Thank you to Barbara Harner Suhay for sharing family letters and the photograph of Mary Jane Clevenger. 

The quilts featured in this post were first published in Quilts and Quaker Heritage: Selections from an Exhibition, by Mary Holton Robare. The booklet accompanied an 2008 exhibit at the Virginia Quilt Museum. It is occasionally available on Amazon.com See: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0615201709/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new or from used booksellers.

Barbara Brackman. Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. Paducah, KY: American Quilter's Society, 1993.See: https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Pieced-Patterns-Barbara-Brackman/dp/08

Judy Ann Breneman and Charlotte Bull. Womenfolk.com, “Solomon’s Puzzle Quilt Block Pattern,” 2007.  See: http://www.patternsfromhistory.com/bible_quilt/bible_solomon.htm Retrieved 29 December 2018.

National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, "Early History." See: https://www.wctu.org/history.html Retrieved 29 December 2018. 

US Federal Census Records on Ancestry.com.