The Hutton Lancaster Legacy Quilt

 

The Hutton Lancaster Legacy Quilt, 1846-1847

Collection of Mary Holton Robare.

Photograph by Kay Butler.

It has been awhile since a post was made to this blog site, but my interest in historical quilts and the people who made them is still strong. Today's post will introduce you to the Hutton Lancaster Legacy Quilt, a Signature Album Quilt dated 1846-1847. I am thrilled that Kay Butler and Kelly Kout made a (now sold-out) kit of its block patterns and I recently had the pleasure of presenting a lecture to one of the groups to which they belong, the Heartland Quilters of the Eastern Shore. With many people now making their own versions of this old quilt, and fresh research being conducted, I hope you will enjoy learning about the original inspiration for some of today's quilters.

I initially purchased the Hutton Lancaster Lagacy Quilt due to its so-called "Apple Pie Ridge Star" block pattern. You can see this in the top row, third from the left. I have studied this pattern for many years and as former readers of this blog are aware, it is also known by many different names. You can read more about that here: January 19, 2019 post

The overall dimensions of the Hutton Lancaster Legacy Quilt are 100 X 104 inches. It has thirty-six blocks measuring 12.75 X 12.75 inches. The width of its border is approximately 12 inches wide. Its binding was done by rolling the backing fabric to the front and it is quilted with wreaths, tulips and outline quilting. It has numerous, still-decipherable inscribed names, and is dated 1846 and June 17, 1847. There is one stamped inscription; the rest are written by various hands, in ink.

Hutton's Lancaster Legacy Quilt, detail.

Block inscribed, "Elizabeth Gregg, June 17, 1847.

When I bought it, the only information concerning this quilt's history was that it was previously owned by a resident of Kentucky, USA, who was a descendant of the maker. She reported that, "Grandma's quilt had been found in a trunk accompanied by a newspaper from Cambridge, England," and that it was wrapped up in a package with a strand of red hair. I have yet to find any connection to Cambridge and I wish we could have conducted DNA analysis on that long-lost strand of hair! Nonetheless, due to the quilt's many signatures and dates, and with research assistance from Glorian Sipman, we were able to learn a great deal more about it. We even found a "Quaker Connection."

At least nine of the names on the quilt represent members of the Benjamin and Susannah Miller Hutton family. They, and almost all of the other signatories, were residents of Drumore and Peach Bottom, which are now both part of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 

In 1816, Benjamin, who was a farmer, married Susannah Miller 'out-of-meeting.' Although this usually resulted in disownment, according to minutes of the Little Britain Monthly Meeting the committee assigned to Benjamin recorded that his "disposition was favourable." On the 11th month 9th day of 1816, Benjamin acknowledged, "[...] being educated among Friends, have so far deviated from their established order, as to keep company with and marry a Woman not in membership, by the assistance of a Baptist teacher, [...] desiring Friends to continue me under their care, hoping in future my conduct may render me worthy of such indulgence." The Meeting agreed to retain his membership until 1835, when he was removed for non-attendance, but after the first four of his and Susannah's nine children were born.

Page from a book of minutes from the Little Britain Monthly Meeting 

showing dealings with Benjamin Hutton.

Some of the other identities of the quilt's inscribed names were also found in records of the Religious Society of Friends. Others were affiliated with Presbyterians and Methodist Episcopalians. 

Hutton Lancaster Legacy Quilt, detail.

Block inscription interpreted as, "Nancy A. McCullough, June 17, 1847."

I plan to share more about this quilt in future posts. In the meantime, during whatever holidays you celebrate this year I wish all of you the best, with hopes for happy, peaceful days ahead. 

 

Sister Quilts: The Hannah Hoopes Quilt & A Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt

Hannah Hoopes Quilt, d. 1844-1845. Photograph courtesy of Laurette Carroll.

Collection of Laurette Carroll.

As we begin a new year (2020!), I am pleased to introduce you to this ‘new” historical quilt. Excitingly, it is directly related to the Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt dated 1844-1849. That quilt, which is owned by Glorian Sipman, was featured in this blog’s previous post of November 25^th, 2019. 

Connections between the Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt and the Hannah Hoopes Quilt, d. 1844-1845, were discovered when Glorian brought her quilt in to show her Southern California quilt study group. Upon seeing the quilt, Laurette Carroll (another member of the group) mentioned that she had a quilt inscribed with the name of the same “London Grove, Pennsylvania” locale. London Grove is home to a Quaker Meeting that was founded in 1714, and that just celebrated its 300-year anniversary.

A Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt, dated 1844-1849. Photograph by Emily Musser. 

Collection of Glorian Sipman,

During the decade I had the pleasure of exchanging research with quilt historian Lynda Salter Chenoweth, we often discussed “sister quilts.” We found them particularly fun to study, since they always provided so much basis for comparison.

We loosely defined them as quilts sharing multiple overlapping inscribed identities, but that was just a starting point. For example, did the same patterns, fabrics, backing, borders and quilting designs appear in two (or more) historical quilts? When one community made several quilts at the same time, what were the differences between them, and why? Our conversations were as wide-ranging as our mutual curiosity, and I feel sure she would have been keenly interested in this post’s “new” historical quilts.

Glorian and Laurette quickly discovered their quilts shared eight of the same inscribed names. To quote a November 25th, 2019 email from Glorian, “What are the odds that 2 related quilts from Pennsylvania would both end up in Southern California?!”

Besides sharing the same basic album block pattern, the quilts do not appear to have identical fabrics. However, they do have nine of the same names inscribed. Most of the inscribed identities were members of the Religious Society of Friends.

The Hannah Hoopes Quilt is so-named because of the following inscription: “Memento, Hannah Hoopes, March 20th, 1844, Philadelphia.” 

Hannah Hoopes Quilt, detail. Block inscribed, “Memento, Hannah Hoopes,

March 20^th, 1844, Philadelphia.”

Glorian’s Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt also has a block inscribed with the name, “Hannah Hoopes”:

Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt, detail. Block inscribed, “Hannah Hoopes, 

Philadelphia, December 28, 1845.”

With so many “Hannah Hoopes” appearing in mid-nineteenth-century records, identifying the correct “Hannah” might have been impossible. However, every one of the Hannah Hoopes Quilt’s twenty-three other inscriptions notes a relationship to Hannah, as in, “My Friend,” My Sister,” my brother-in-law,” and even, “My Parents, Benjamin & Kezia Eastburn, Philadelphia, 1844.” (This inscription is a good reminder that sometimes, signature quilts are inscribed in memory of the deceased; Benjamin and Keziah reportedly died in 1806 and 1831, respectively.)

It is interesting to see the style of script used on this quilt. A glance through Kip Sperry’s book, Reading Early American Handwriting, suggests it resembles quite old (seventeenth-century) Legal and Chancery hands. It is also interesting that – although most of the inscribed identities are readily found in Quaker records -- the dates are not written in a Quaker-style. For example, on the block inscribed with the name of Ann Eliza Hoopes, the date is written as, “March 19^th, 1844,” as opposed to 19^th 3^rd mo. 1844. (Quakers avoided naming months because those names derived from Pagan gods.) We ca only speculate, but perhaps the inscriber did not use Quaker-style dates because he or she was not a member of the Religious Society of Friends.

Hannah Hoopes Quilt, detail Block inscribed, “My Granddaughter, Ann Eliza Hoopes, 

Aged 3 years, March 19^th 1844, Philadelphia.

Noting that Ann Eliza was just three years old at the time strongly suggests the inscriptions observed on the Hannah Hoopes Quilt were allographs (names signed by someone for another) vs. autographs. Further proof resides on the block from Hannah to, “My Parents,” since both of her parents were deceased long before her quilt was made.

 Hannah Hoopes Quilt, detail. Block inscribed, “My Parents, Benjamin & Kezia Eastburn,

Philadelphia, 1844.”

Searching Quaker records on Ancestry.com, one can find several Quaker Minutes concerning Hannah ’s parents. In 1778, at a Monthly Meeting of Women friends held at the Buckingham Monthly Meeting in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, “the friends appointed to attend the marriage of Benjamin Eastburn & Keziah Ross report they were at the marriage and saw nothing but what was orderly.” 

In 1798, Benjamin and Keziah (who also appears in old records as “Kezia, Kesia, etc.) transferred their Quaker membership from Buckingham Monthly Meeting to the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, along with their six daughters. Hannah was the youngest at the time, but Benjamin and Keziah subsequently had three more children: eight daughters and (their youngest) one son, in total. 

Hannah Eastburn Hoopes, (1796-1878) married Francis Wilkinson Hoopes in 1817. They had three sons, all of whom are named on the quilt, as well as their wives and some of their children.

Their youngest, Joseph Ross Hoopes (1822-1859) is described by a contributor to the Find A Grave website (citing the Hoopes family record, Vol. I, 1979) as a, "Merchant in a drugoods store on 8th and Market St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also offered the first delivery service in Philadelphia, Pa. for customers." 

As for the Hannah Hoopes Quilt and the Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt being representations of “sister quilts,” research and comparisons could continue for years but charmingly, Hannah actually included blocks dedicated to her sisters, and two of their names – Frances and Rachel -- also appear on the Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt.

Hannah Hoopes Quilt, detail. Block inscribed, “My Sister, Frances R. Eastburn, 

Norristown, 1845.”

Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt, detail. Block inscribed, “Frances R. Eastburn, 

Norristown, 1846."

Hannah Hoopes Quilt, detail. Block inscribed, “My Sister, Rachel Kinsey, 

London Grove, Penn, 1845.”

Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt, detail. Block inscribed with the names,

 Samuel and Rachel Kinsey.

                        March 9^th 1844

                        View these few lines

                        And think of us

                        When we are laid in to the dust

                        Samuel Kinsey

                        Rachel Kinsey

In our swiftly-moving world, we might all pause to appreciate the time and efforts it takes to compile remembrances-in-quilts. Then, because as time marches on I once again bring my former co-host, Lynda, into to this blog post with her most oft-uttered written closing, “Ever Onward!”

NOTES:

All photographs in this post are courtesy of Glorian Sipman. All Rights Reserved. Text ©Mary Holton Robare 2020.

Special thanks to Glorian Sipman and Laurette Carroll for so generously sharing their quilts.

Additional thanks to Glorian Sipman for sharing her the extensive research as well as her detailed photographs of both quilts.

To learn more about the collection and studies of Laurette Carroll, visit: https://www.antiquequilthistory.com/ (Retrieved 1 January 2020.)

A Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt

During this week of Thanksgiving in the United States of America, we are grateful to the owner of this mid-nineteenth-century quilt, Glorian Sipman, who kindly agreed to share photographs and her research concerning this lovely fifty-block Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt with readers of this blog. An experienced researcher, Glorian has deciphered the inscriptions on many of the quilt’s forty-five blocks that have names of men and women, verses, dates, and locations written in ink.

Pennsylvania Friendship Quilt, dated 1844-1849. 

Collection of Glorian Sipman. 

Photograph by Emily Musser, courtesy of the owner. 

Interestingly, there is only one inscribed date written in the Quaker style: "12 8th 1843." Members of the Religious Society of Friends used numbers instead of, "...the names of days (Sunday to Saturday) and months (January to August) which derived from pagan gods, substituting numbers." (FHL of Swarthmore)

A Quaker-style date is just one clue used to establish a historical quilt's Quaker provenance. Many of the inscribed surnames are familiar to Quaker researchers, such as, Gillingham, Harlan, Hoopes, Lamborn, etc. Indeed, Glorian Sipman was able to locate many of the signatories in the records of the Green Street Monthly Meeting, the New Garden Monthly Meeting and the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting.

While every quilt block could tell a story, we often look to the center blocks of signature quilts, first, for clues about why they were made. In this case, the center block was dated March 9th, 1844. It was inscribed with  the names of Samuel Kinsey (1777-1854) and his wife, Rachel (Eastburn) Kinsey (1787-1867). Some of the other names on the quilt denote their children. Samuel and Rachel were married in 1809 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They had seven children. Four of them stayed in Pennsylvania. The other three moved (eventually) to California, New Jersey and Delaware and the youngest Kinsey married a Mennonite. 

The inscription on the quilt's center block includes this verse: 

View these few lines

And think of us

When we are laid in to the dust

As research progresses, we may be able to connect one of quilt's inscriptions to an event, such as a marriage and/or migration. It is important to note that the quilt may have been made and inscribed by people giving it as a gift to people who were not actually named on the quilt. This was not uncommon, and it is not impossible to discern a quilt's intended recipient but it does present challenges. 

In the meantime, we can enjoy looking at the quilt's leaf motifs, vine border and wonderful mid-nineteenth-century fabrics.

Notes:

All photographs in this post are courtesy of Glorian Sipman. All Rights Reserved. Text © Mary Holton Robare 2019.

Special thanks to Glorian Sipman for sharing this quilt, and thank you to my readers for your continuing interest.

For more about Quaker-style dates see, “The Quaker Calendar”  on the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/friends-historical-library/quaker-calendar. Retrieved 25 November 2019.

The Cather-Robinson Quilt: Priscilla Fenton Tate

One of the great things about researching historical signature album quilts is that even after studying a quilt for years, there is always more to explore. Beyond looking at a quilt’s appearance, condition, construction, patterns, and materials, etc., when we can definitively attach individual makers or signatories to a quilt, we are invited in to examine lives that may not otherwise be remembered. This is especially true if a woman whose name is inscribed on a quilt does not appear in many public records. For this post we will once again be looking more closely at the Cather-Robinson Quilt, d. 1848, and one particular signatory.

Cather-Robinson Quilt, d. 1848. Photograph Courtesy of Ann Romines. 

Collection of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

One of the blocks of the 1848 Cather-Robinson Quilt has a now-much-faded inscription, “Priscilla Tate.” Priscilla Fenton Tate was born 31 Jan 1803 in Frederick County, Virginia.  She was the fifth of seven children born to Benjamin and Ann (Jackson) Fenton.  The Fentons first child was born in Gainsborough, Frederick County, VA, and their second was born in Fairfax, VA. By the 1799 birth of their third child they were back in Frederick County, VA. Their youngest child, Enoch, was born in 1807 in Goose Creek, Loudoun County, Virginia, in the hometown of Priscilla’s future husband.

Priscilla’s mother, Ann, was born in Virginia in 1773, following her parents’ migration into the state from Pennsylvania sometime between 1766 and 1771.  Priscilla’s father, Benjamin, was also a native Virginian whose parents originally came from Pennsylvania. Benjamin and Ann were both subjected to disownments from their respective congregations for their 4 Apr 1796 marriage.  On the day of his wedding Benjamin was “rpd mcd” (reported married contrary to discipline) by the Goose Creek Meeting. Ann was disowned the same day from Hopewell Monthly Meeting for being married by a hireling teacher (thus going against Quaker wedding practices).

The first mention of their daughter Priscilla in Quaker records occurs during the period of time her parents were disowned. (Despite disownments, it was not unheard of for Friends to attend Quaker ceremonies and Meetings.) In 1815, at the age of twelve, Priscilla signed a Quaker-style wedding certificate when her uncle was married in a public Meeting at Back Creek, Frederick County, Virginia.

Cather-Robinson Quilt, detail. Block inscribed, "Priscilla Tate."

In 1818 at the age of fifteen, Priscilla dated a sampler that she stitched in cross and eyelet stitches, using silk thread on linen. 

Priscilla Fenton's sampler, "Wrought 1818." Photograph by Christine Knoblauch. 
Collection of Barbara Harner Suhay.

On 7 Oct 1823 Priscilla received her certificate of membership to Hopewell.  Her brother John received his one day later.  Their mother Ann was reinstated by Hopewell at the same time. A week later, on 15 October 1823, Priscilla married Willam Tate (1796-1884) of Loudoun County, Virginia. They were married at the Upper Ridge Meetinghouse on Apple Pie Ridge in Frederick County, Virginia, in a ceremony held under the auspices of Hopewell Monthly Meeting. Among those in attendance was Abel Jackson, whose daughter's name is stitched on the center of this block:

Cather-Robinson Quilt, detail. Block inscribed, "Sidney Jackson."

On 8 Jan 1824, Priscilla transferred her membership from Hopewell in Frederick County to her new husband’s Meeting, the Goose Creek Meeting, Loudoun County, VA.

Researching and writing about historical members of the Religious Society of Friends and their quilts, one frequently encounters the topic of their involvement in the Underground Railroad. When telling their stories, it is important to avoid perpetuating the narrative of black dependency on a paternalistic white culture, and the story of Quakers and slavery is complex. Many Friends owned slaves, and even more were opposed to anti-slavery activities, often because they felt it might incite violence and thus violate their tenet of pacifism. Still, there are important tales to be told from the perspective of historical Quaker lives.

William Tate, front and back of carte-de-visite. Photograph courtesy of Barbara Harner Suhay,

Much has been researched and published about William Tate’s involvement in the Underground Railroad. Less direct is evidence concerning his wife Priscilla’s involvement, but there are clues to her stance, as well. Between 1843 and 1862, she traveled extensively with her husband from their home in Virginia to Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa New York. While slavery was not abolished in Virginia until 1865, by 1846 all of the Tate’s destinations had abolished slavery and were thus potential havens for those seeking freedom from slavery. 

From a letter dated March 6, 1946, we learn that, “I have a child’s memory of Uncle William, a large white-haired man, and I have been told of his work in the anti-slavery cause. I think he helped several slaves across the Potomac river. I know he drove one in his carriage, dressed in his wife’s Quaker dress and bonnet.” 

In one account of a family's harrowing escape from slavery we discover that, “It was late in the afternoon when they reached the Tate farm. William and Priscilla greeted them warmly and made them feel welcome.” The Paynes stayed with the Tates from November through spring, helping with housework and gardening. (Gandy, 1987, 35-36)

Priscilla died on November 15, 1865.  Her obituary noted that “She was an Elder of Goose Creek Monthly Meeting, and highly valued for her sound judgment, her devout spirit, and her charitable deeds.” She is buried in the Goose Creek Burying Ground, Lincoln, Loudoun County, Virginia.

Notes and Selected Sources:

All text and photographs on this site are by Mary Holton Robare unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved. ©Mary Holton Robare 2019.

The Cather-Robinson Quilt, d. 1848, is now in the collection of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley following its donation by the Willa Cather Institute of Shenandoah University.

Special thanks to Dr. Deborah A. Lee for sharing the letter from Cornelia Taylor to Albert Cook Myers dated 1946, as well as her transcription of the William Tate Memorandum Book, 1840-1870. Personal Papers, Samuel M. Janney Papers, ACC. 24678E, Location 4/B/10/7/3. Transcription by Deborah A. Lee, August 18, 2009. 

Gandy, Mary Goins. Guide My Feet, Hold My Hand. Canton, Missouri: The Press News Journal, 1987.

Joint Committee of Hopewell Friends, Assisted by John Wayland. Hopewell Friends History 1734-1934. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1993.

Kerns, Wilmer L.. Frederick County, Virginia: Settlement and Some First Families of Back Creek Valley 1730-1830. Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, Inc. 1995.

Lawrence, Lee. "William and Priscilla Tate." Nest of Abolitionists, July 2019. https://lincolnquakers.com/william-tate-prisilla-and-mary/ 

Robare, Mary Holton. Quilts and Quaker Heritage: Selections from an Exhibition. Winchester, Virginia: Hillside Studios, 2008.

_______, When This You See Remember Me… Schoolgirl Samplers of Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia. Winchester, Virginia: Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, 2010.

Romines, Ann. "Willa Cather: A Life with Quilts," in Stout, Janis P. Willa Cather & Material Culture. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 2005, pps. 15-36.

Taylor, Yardely, and Publishers Thomas Reynolds & Robert Pearsall Smith. Map of Loudoun County, Virginia. Philadelphia: Thomas Reynolds & Robert Pearsall Smith, 1854. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012589658/

Virginia Consortium of Quilters. Quilts of Virginia 1607-1899: The Birth of America Through the Eye of a Needle. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2006.

From Back Creek Valley to the MSV: The Cather-Robinson Quilt

This week, I had the pleasure and honor of being asked to give a short presentation about the Cather-Robinson Quilt, c. 1848, which was the topic of my previous post on April 14th, 2019.

The Cather-Robinson Quilt at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 20 June 2019.

The Cather-Robinson Quilt is a Signature Album Quilt that was made and inscribed by mid-nineteenth-century residents of Back Creek Valley, Virginia. Most of the inscribed identities are found documented in Quaker records. The quilt, which is inscribed with the date, "1848," first became known outside of its family when it was brought by Kit Robinson to the Seventh International Willa Cather Seminar in 1997. That year, the Seminar was held in Winchester, Virginia.

Kit was the wife of J. Kenneth Robinson, in whose family the quilt descended. Upon reviewing all of my research notes, I believe the quilt most likely was passed down from J. Kenneth's great-grandmother, Hannah Eleanor (Cather) Robinson (1819-1903), through her son, Silas Dean Robinson, to Silas' daughter, Ida Helen Robinson (whose married name was "Robinson," as well), to J. Kenneth Robinson and his wife, Kit.

Hannah Eleanor (whose middle name was also recorded as "Ellen, Ellenor, etc.) was a first cousin to William Cather, the grandfather of the famed American author, Willa Cather. Willa Cather was born in Back Creek Valley, (near Winchester, Virginia), which sits at the top of the Shenandoah Valley. She lived in the area for the first nine years of her life before her family migrated to Nebraska.

Upon seeing the Cather-Robinson Quilt, Cather scholar and quilt-lover Ann Romines recognized it as a piece of exceptional needlework. She also thought is might be an important quilt, historically. Her subsequent research and writings proved its connections to the ancestral community of Willa Cather.  Most interestingly, the people whose names are on blocks of the quilt actually lived in the place and time that was the setting for Cather's last novel, Sapphira and the Slave Girl.

Although she was not born until 1873, (twenty-five years after the quilt was made), Cather observed other quilts being made in her childhood home in Virginia, "Willow Shade." She listened to quilters from a spot beneath their quilt frame, hearing stories that would eventually become fictionalized in Sapphira....

Photograph of a print of "Willow Shade, art by Dorothy Henkle, 2004.
Copyright reserved: Shenandoah University.

My personal interest in the quilt started when I was realized that the Cather-Robinson Quilt was inscribed by many mid-nineteenth-century members of the Religious Society of Friends, and that it is related to several other Quaker Signature Album quilts that were made in and around Winchester, Virginia.

I was able to include the Cather-Robinson Quilt in the exhibit I guest-curated at the Virginia Quilt Museum in 2008, titled, "Quilts and Quaker Heritage." The quilt was again displayed in another exhibit of Quaker Quilts at the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society in 2014 that I helped plan with Jenny Powers; the Society's Executive Director, Capricia Shull; and her Administrative Assistant, Sherry Jenkins. With the kind permission of John Jacobs and the Willa Cather Institute of Shenandoah University, which had received the quilt as a gift from Kit Robinson, I was also granted permission to take the quilt with me for presentations to local guilds and history groups.

Cather-Robinson Quilt, detail.

Growth at Shenandoah University that required restructuring of the university's options for quilt-storage spaces coincided with an opportunity for the quilt to become part of the professionally-curated collections at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV). On June 20th, 2019, the transfer of ownership of the Cather-Robinson Quilt from the Willa Cather Institute of Shenandoah University to the MSV was marked with a series of brief presentations.

I was just one of several speakers that included the Seminar's Co-Director, Ann Romines, its Site Director, John Jacobs, and the Curator of Collections at the MSV, A. Nicholas Powers.* This event was scheduled to coincide with the 17 International Willa Cather Seminar, which you can read more about, here: https://www.willacather.org/events/17th-international-willa-cather-seminar

Cather-Robinson Quilt, detail.

We don't know who actually made the Cather-Robinson Quilt, or why, but just one of many possibilities is that it was made to celebrate the 1848 birth of Silas Dean Robinson, through whose direct descendants the quilt passed. Or, it may have been made to commemorate a marriage. Note its one one block of appliqued, cutout hearts: 

Cather-Robinson Quilt, detail. Collection of
the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

This block is remarkably similar to one found on the Hollinsgworth Family Quilt, c. 1858, (another quilt made and inscribed by the same local community of Friends). I suspect the Hollingsworth Family Quilt was made to commemorate the marriage of Jonathan and Mary Frances (Clevenger) Robinson.

Hollingsworth Family Quilt, c. 1858. Collection of
the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society.

Over one hundred and seventy years after the Cather-Robinson Quilt was made; after being cared for over  generations by family members; and after being held for many years by the Willa Cather Institute of Shenandoah University, the quilt has found a new home at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

NOTES & SELECTED SOURCES:

All text and photographs on this site are by Mary Holton Robare unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved. ©Mary Holton Robare 2019.

*During the July 20th, 2019 presentations at the MSV about the Cather-Robinson Quilt, Elaine Evans presented a framed photograph of the needlework she stitched depicting "Willow Shade" to the Willa Cather Foundation. This work is part of a large community needlework project entitled, "The Shenandoah Valley Tapestry -- A Journey Through Time." This project is described as, "a needlework narrative honoring and celebrating over 250 years of history of the northern Shenandoah Valley." 

Robare, Mary Holton. Quilts and Quaker Heritage: Selections from an Exhibition. Winchester, Virginia: Hillside Studios, 2008.

____, Quaker Quils: Snapshots of an Exhibition. Winchester, Virginia: Hillside Studios, 2014.

Romines, Ann, ed. Willa Cather's Southern Connections: New Essays on Cather and the South. Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia, 2000.

____, Historical Essays and Explanatory Notes, Mignon, Charles W., Ronning, Karl A. and Link, Frederick M., Textual Essay and Editing. Willa Cather Scholarly Edition: Sapphira and the Slave Girl. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2009.

____, "Willa Cather: A Life with Quilts," in Stout, Janis P. Willa Cather & Material Culture. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 2005, pps. 15-36.

Virginia Consortium of Quilters. Quilts of Virginia 1607-1899: The Birth of America Through the Eye of a Needle. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2006.

The Cather-Robinson Quilt, d. 1848

The Cather-Robinson Quilt, dated 1848, is one of several Signature Album Quilts made and inscribed by mid-nineteenth-century Quakers who resided in the Back Creek Valley district of Winchester, Virginia. The quilt first came to the attention of contemporary Cather and quilt scholars in 1997, when it was brought to the Seventh International Willa Cather Seminar in Winchester, Virginia, by a descendant of the quilt's makers. Owned for many years by the Willa Cather Institute of Shenandoah University, its ownership is in the process of being transferred to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

Cather-Robinson Quilt, dated 1848. Photographed May 2017.

Measuring 101.5 x 88 inches, the quilt has thirty-six blocks and is set en point. Many of the blocks are inscribed with still-decipherable names and dates in ink, stamps, or embroidery. Significantly, the quilt is tied to the famous American author, Willa Cather, through the inscribed identities of her grandparents' cousins, as well as by her fictional depiction of the real community in which the quilt was made. Cather was born in Frederick County, Virginia, where she lived as a child for nine years before her family migrated west to Nebraska.

Frederick County, Virginia, birthplace of Willa Cather, photographed June 2017.

Willa Cather is famous for novels such as, O Pioneers! and My Antonia, but she set her twelfth and last novel, Sapphira and the Slave Girl, in the exact, nineteenth-century locale where residents made the Cather-Robinson Quilt. It is said that she based her last novel on tales she most likely heard at the knee of a former family-owned slave, Matilda Jefferson. Jefferson became the prototype for the novel's character, "Aunt Till." There is a great deal of such fascinating research and analysis published in the Willa Cather Scholarly Edition of Sapphira and the Slave Girl, with Historical Essay and Explanatory Notes by Ann Romines. (Romines 313).

As with all Signature Album Quilts, every inscription provides an opportunity to explore the lives of historical quilt makers and inscribed identities. Sometimes, signatures can be attributed to the writer through comparison to other documents that contain signatures. At other times, it is less clear if a name is an autograph or an allograph (defined by the British as a signature written by someone on behalf of another). Either way, when explored in context of time and place, a mere name can lead to interesting stories.

One such name to appear on the Cather-Robinson Quilt is "Andrew A. Robinson," which is stamped inside of a stenciled cartouche. Like other Friends, Andrew A. Robinson held pacifist ideals. A noncombatant during the Civil War, he took a Union stance, and he spent time in a prisoner of war camp. (Cartmell 473).

Cather-Robinson Quilt, detail of block stamped, "Andrew A. Robinson."

The block below is initialed, "A.J.C.," in embroidered cross-stitches. Following extensive research, our best speculation is that the initials represented Adaline Jemima Cather (married name, Purcell).

Cather-Robinson Quilt, detail.

There is a wonderful photograph of Adaline with her sister, Sidney S. Cather (married name, Gore) in the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives of Handley Regional Library that you can see here:

https://handley.pastperfectonline.com/photo/C4DCD867-707B-4909-A1FD-923548660900

The photograph has an estimated date of c. 1848, which is the date found inscribed on the Cather-Robinson Quilt.  We also know that Sidney made quilts. Excitingly, this shows what the makers of mid-nineteenth-century Virginia quilts looked like, how they wore their hair, and what they wore.

Yet another block is inscribed, "Sarah Ann Fenton." Her name appears on a list of students who attended Samuel M. Janney's Springdale Boarding School for Girls in Loudoun County, Virginia. Samul M. Janney is well known to Quaker historians for many things, including his strong anti-slavery stance. Perhaps most relevant to Sarah Ann's participation in a quilt project: needlework was part of the Springdale's curriculum. Sarah Ann Fenton (1832-1873) married Joseph Robinson (1825-1901). They had four children.

Sarah Ann Fenton, (1832-1873), Photograph courtesy of Barbara Harner Suhay. 

Back of Sarah Ann Fenton photograph. Courtesy of Barbara Harner Suhay. 

The back of Sarah Ann's photograph is inscribed, "For Wm & P. Tate." William Tate was another Loudoun County Quaker known for his anti-slavery sentiments and activities. The inscribed name of his first wife, Priscilla (Fenton) Tate, also appears on one of the blocks of the Cather-Robinson Quilt.

Cather-Robinson Quilt, detail of block inscribed, "Priscilla Tate."

Through exploration of its inscribed identities, as well as in view of Willa Cather's last novel, this post just brushes the surface of the Cather-Robinson Quilt's representation of a fascinating mid-nineteenth-century Quaker community.

Notes and Sources:

All text and photographs on this site are by Mary Holton Robare unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved. ©Mary Holton Robare 2019.

Special thanks to John Jacobs, formerly of the Willa Cather Institute of Shenandoah University; Nick Powers, Curator of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley; and Ann Romines for so generously sharing about this quilt. Thank you also to Barbara Harner Suhay for sharing the photograph of Sarah Ann Fenton.

Note: While Willa Cather had ancestors of various denominations, just a few of her ancestors were documented as members of the Religious Society of Friends.

Cartmell, Thomas Kemp. Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants: A History of Frederick County, Virginia. Winchester, Virginia: The Eddy Press Corporation, 1909.

Romines, Ann, ed. Willa Cather's Southern Connections: New Essays on Cather and the South. Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia, 2000.

____, Historical Essays and Explanatory Notes, Mignon, Charles W., Ronning, Karl A. and Link, Frederick M., Textual Essay and Editing. Willa Cather Scholarly Edition: Sapphira and the Slave Girl. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2009.

____, "Willa Cather: A Life with Quilts," in Stout, Janis P. Willa Cather & Material Culture. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 2005, pps. 15-36.