Sampler by Elizabeth McPherson Whitehead

DateApril 29th, 1834 (dated)

Artist/Maker Elizabeth McPherson Whitehead (d. 1855)

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 29 x 29 threads per inch (Identification of fibers by eye)

Dimensions17 1/4" (selvage width) x 16"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1998-24

DescriptionThis is an almost square needlework sampler worked in faded shades of brown, blue, green, gold/yellow, and ivory silk embroidery threads on a natural color linen ground. The sampler is hemmed with a 1/8" hem at top and bottom and has selvages at sides.
From the top the sampler consists of:
"A-Z" upper case block, "1-3" in cross stitch
"A-O" and "P-Z" upper case block, in eyelet stitch, "1-3"in eyelet stitch
"A-Z" upper case block, "1-3" in four-sided stitch
"A-Q" upper-case script, in cross stitch
"R-Z" upper-case script, in cross stitch over 2
"a-z" lower-case block, "1-5" in cross stitch over 1
Simple band of four-sided stitch
The center section of the sampler consists of two verses divided by a vertical row of four-sided stitch. The verses are: "Happy the child, whose tender years, / Receive instruction well;/ Who hates the sinner's path and fears/ The road that leads to hell." "When we give up our youth to God,/ Tis pleasing in his eyes;/ A flow'r that's offer'd in the bud,/ Is no vain sacrifice." The verses are from Isaac Watt's DIVINE SONGS XII, verses 1 and variation of 2.
The bottom portion of the sampler contains a densely worked scene consisting of what may be a country home or plantation surrounded by 3 other smaller buildings, fences, 6 trees, and field. The largest building or country home is two-storied with a wing, 5 chimneys and 15 windows on front facade.
The bottom signature line reads "Done by Elizabeth McPherson Whitehead April 29th 1834 Norfolk Va."
Sampler is enclosed on four sides by a border of undulating bud (strawberry?) and vine.
Stitches: cross (over 1 and 2), eyelet, four-sided, outline or stem
Label TextStill surviving is a leather-bound journal kept by Elizabeth McPherson between the years 1853 and 1855 in which she recorded (in very neat handwriting) "a strict account of her thoughts and actions" in hopes it would have "the good effect of making her more watchful of her actions and more careful of the feelings of others." The journal records her trip with her family north to Philadelphia and Boston. Elizabeth's last entry written on August 27, 1855, records her thoughts of the yellow fever epidemic, which struck Norfolk in 1855. The disease killed hundreds of residents with hundreds more fleeing the city. At the peak of the epidemic, Norfolk was described as resembling a ghost town, with the cemeteries alone showing signs of activity. Elizabeth wrote: "I do not know but that any day I may be stricken down with the disease and if I am I think it would go very hard with me…" Before the year was out, Elizabeth had perished of yellow fever at the age of 34. Her sampler verse seems prophetic to us today: "When we give up our youth to God, Tis pleasing in his eyes. A flow'r that's offer'd in the bud, Is no vain sacrifice."
Inscribed"Happy the child, whose tender years,/ Receive instruction well;/ Who hates the sinner's path and fears/ The road that leads to hell." "When we give up our youth to God,/ Tis pleasing in his eyes;/ A flow'r that's offer'd in the bud,/ Is no vain sacrifice."
The bottom signature line reads "Done by Elizabeth McPherson Whitehead April 29th 1834 Norfolk Va."
MarkingsLabel on back of sampler: "Brentano's Pictures and Framing" in Washington
ProvenanceFrom the collection of Michael, Kathleen and William McBlair, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
History of sampler maker:
Elizabeth McPherson Whitehead (b. 1821(?), d. 1855) was a member of a prominent Norfolk Scottish family. She was the daughter of Dr. Nathan Colgate Whitehead (b. April 8, 1792, d. Oct. 17, 1856) and Elizabeth McPherson Grigsby Whitehead (b. Jan. 15, 1788, d. Dec. 31, 1860). Her maternal grandparents were Hugh McPherson and Lilias Blair McPhail, both of whom were born in Scotland. Dr. Nathan Whitehead, born in Southampton County, practiced medicine in Norfolk until becoming president of the Farmer's Bank, a position he held until 1856, when he died of yellow fever. Elizabeth's mother was the widow of the Reverend Benjamin Grigsby, a Presbyterian minister at Old Bell Church in Norfolk. Their only child was Hugh Blair Grigsby, third Chancellor of William and Mary College. Elizabeth suffered from curvature of the spine, never married, and at the age of 34 died of yellow fever in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1855. Her sampler descended in the family to the present owners.
The sampler was framed probably sometime early in this century by "Brentano's Pictures and Framing" in Washington (per label on back of sampler).