Embroidery from the Historical Collections of the Follett House Museum

Embroidery, as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica, is "the art of decorating material, primarily textile fabric, by means of a needle and thread (and sometimes fine wire)." It dates back to ancient times, often used in garments, tomb paintings, and for religious items.  Shown above is an embroidered sampler created by nine-year-old Nancy Ward in 1810. She stitched two upper case alphabets, a lower case alphabet, and numerals 1 to 10.

Here is a hand embroidered motto that reads “Forget me not” with a floral design:

In 1834 Caroline Sprague monogrammed the letter “M” on a linen tablecloth. Since Caroline married Henry Frost Merry in 1837, it is likely that the tablecloth was made for a member of the Merry family.

These four linen embroidered doilies belonged to pioneer Sandusky resident Mrs. William T. West, nee Lydia Mahala Todd:

Also in the historical collections of the Sandusky Library and Follett House Museum is a book published in 1888 entitled How to Shade Embroidered Flowers and Leaves, by Ellen Galusha Smith.

To read more about the history of embroidery in the United States, see the book The Development of Embroidery in America, by Candace Wheeler, available at Project Gutenberg.