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1960-910,1, Pillowcase
Linen Pillowcase, "1787"
1960-910,1, Pillowcase

Linen Pillowcase, "1787"

Date1787
Owner Mary Heston
OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania
MediumLinen, 35 x 36 threads per inch, with silk embroidery threads
DimensionsOH 31 1/2" x OW 19 1/2"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1960-910,1
DescriptionThis is a rectangular pillowcase made of natural-color linen woven in plain or tabby weave. The open end of the pillowcase is finished with a 1/4" hem. The closed end of the pillowcase is joined with a flat felled seam. The pillowcase is fashioned from a single width of linen which is folded in half and closed with a butted selvege seam. One side of the pillowcase is marked "2/ M*H/ 1787" with brown silk marking cross stitches. The other side is marked "MH" with brown silk eyelet stitches.
Label TextHousehold textiles like pillowcases were marked with numbers and initials to ensure that sets remained together and that items sent out to be laundered or mended returned to their owner.
This pillowcase was owned by a Pennsylvania Quaker named Mary Heston and was made one year before her marriage to Joseph Wiggins. The pillowcase passed through the female line until it was acquired by Robert Carlen, who later sold it to Colonial Williamsburg.
InscribedHandwritten labels on lined paper (now in object file) that came with pillowcases read:
"1787. Mary Heston Wiggins wife of/ Joseph Wiggins, my mother/ Ann Wiggins Warner Pillow/ cases/ Mary Ellen Warner"
"1787./ Mary Weston, Wiggins wife/ of Joseph Wiggins, my mother./ Ann Wiggins Warner/ Pillow cases/ Mary E. Warner"
Markings"2/ M*H/ 1787"
"MH"
ProvenanceMary Heston (d. 1809) married Joseph Wiggins (1762-1825) on November 12, 1788. Their daughter, Ann Wiggins (b. 1802) married Crosdale Warner (1804-1871) on October 13, 1830 and was the mother of Mary Ellen Warner (1831-1910). Robert Carlen purchased this pillowcase from Mary Ellen Warner and sold it to CWF in 1960.