Elizabeth Mitchell 1828

Description

According to a note attached to the back of the original sampler, it was probably made near Newtown, Pennsylvania. The attribution at the center is surrounded by a typical Quaker leafy cartouche with opposing flowers and facing birds above. Other characteristic Quaker motifs include eight point stars, a fruit basket, bunches of grapes and realistic floral motifs with a four-sided angular bud and leaf outer border. The sampler descended with the history of being made by Elizabeth Mitchell Leedom in the Leedom family of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The 1850, 1860, and 1870 census for Newtown Township in Delaware County list an Elizabeth Leedom, born in Pennsylvania around 1815, and her husband Jesse, a prosperous farmer, and their five children. The sampler is stitched entirely in cross stitch. On 28 count coffee colored linen the finished size will be approximately 16-1/4″ x 15″, very close to the size of the original, currently in the collection of The Scarlet Letter. The sampler is recommended for any level of skill.