Sampler, Family Record by Sarah Thompson

DateCa. 1789

Probably by Sarah Jerdone Thompson (b. November 1781, d. December 31, 1855)

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 23 warp by 25 weft threads per inch (identification of fibers by eye)

DimensionsOW: 8 1/4" x OL: 21 7/8"

Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. James E. Etheridge, Jr.

Object number2003-169

DescriptionThis is a narrow rectangular family record sampler worked in faded shades of blue, green, ivory and brown silk threads on a darkened natural color linen ground. The sampler has a selvage at top, 3/16" hem at sides and a cut edge at bottom. The sampler is enclosed on all four sides in a simple reversible cross-stitch border. From the top:
"[C][H]ARLESTHOM[P]
S[O][N]xBORNxTHEx[5]
OF[J]ULYx1743 abc"
Simple band in reversible cross stitch
"ANNExIE[R]DONE efd
BORNxTHEx3OF gh
APRILx1763AND ijk
MARRIEDxTOxCH
ARLESxTHOMPSO
NxDECEM[B]ERxTH
Ex181773" decorative Greek key motif
Simple band in reversible cross stitch
"[S][A]RAHxIERDONE
THOMPSONxTHE l
DAUGHTERxOF r
CHARLESxAND mn
A[NN]Ex[T]HOMPSON
[B]O[RN]u NOV[EM]BER
THEx[22]1781 opqrst"
Simple band in reversible cross stitch
"IOHNxTHOMPSONB
ORNxIUNExTHE u
271785" decorative Greek key motif
Simple band in reversible cross stitch
GARLANDxTHOM
PSONxBORNxFEBR
UARYxTHEx2 1787"
Simple band in reversible cross stitch
"CHARLESxTHOM
PSONxBORNxJANU
ARYxTHEx231789"
Simple band in cross stitch
"AABCDEFGHI[?]"
Simple band in cross stitch
"KLMNOPQRSTV o"
Simple band in cross stitch
"VWXZ wxy[z]
[?] 12[?]3456789"

Stitches: cross (over two, V on reverse), cross reversing to cross (over two)

Note: Most of the sampler except for the lower case alphabet, numbers, and bottom seven rows is worked in a badly executed reversible cross stitch.
Label TextFamily record or register samplers give modern viewers a wealth of information about the past. They include stitched genealogical charts with information about the birth, marriage, and death dates of the needleworker's parents, siblings, and occasionally other family members or friends. By the 1810s, such records were often incorporated into memorials for deceased family members or commemoratives of other life passages. Family record samplers reflect the changes that took place in the American family in the eighteenth century that resulted in a more openly affectionate family.

Like seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century samplers, the Thompson family record sampler was worked in a long rectangular format with reversible cross stitches. The sampler records the birth and marriage dates of Charles Thompson and Anne Jerdone, and the births of four of their children between 1781 and 1789.
InscribedSee description.
MarkingsSee description.
ProvenanceThe sampler descended in Dr. Etheridge's mother's family of Louisa County, Virginia. Per documentation provided by owners, the sampler descended from:
Sarah Jerdone Thompson (married George Pottie) to
Daughter Mary Pottie (married Charles Yancy Kimbrough) to
Daughter Ella K. Kimbrough (married Mathew Archer Anderson) to
Daughter Mary Stuart Anderson (married William S. Gooch) to
Daughter Mary Stuart Gooch to
Son, James Etheridge
Per Dr. Etheridge, his grandmother, Mary Stuart Anderson lived at Ingleside in Louisa County.
Per family documentation, Sarah Jerdone Thompson (b. 1781, d. after 1850) married George Pottie (d. 1841-1849) and they had two children, Mary (b. 1803, d. 1872) and Charles (b. 1806).
The Etheridges also own a Hogarth print, believed to have been owned by Sarah Jerdone Thompson and a glass bowl with an early family history.

Sarah Jerdone Thompson married George Pottie, Jr. (b. September 8, 1774, d. March 22, 1815) of Louisa County around 1800. George Pottie, Jr. was the son of George and Mary Jerdone Pottie and the first cousin of Sarah Jerdone Thompson. Sarah and George had four children: William Pottie (b. ca. 1801, d. 1820), Mary Pottie (b. 1803, d. 1867), Charles Pottie b. 1806, d. 1859), and George Pottie, III (b. 1811, d. 1849). (compiled from Ancestry.com and www.family search.org)