Sampler by Sarah Folger

Date1819 (dated)

Maker Sarah Folger (1808-1871)

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 29 x 34 threads per inch (identification of fibers by eye)

DimensionsOW: 7 3/4" x OH: 8 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2005-16,2

DescriptionThis is a small alphabet sampler worked in shades of gold, green, and pink on a natural color linen ground. The sampler is hemmed with a 1/4" hem at sides and bottom. At the top there is a selvage edge.
From the top the sampler consists of:
"A-P" upper case block worked in cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
"Q-Z" upper case block and "1-4" worked in cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
"A-K" upper case block worked in cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
"L-T" upper case block worked in cross stitch
Band of double cross stitch
"U-Z" upper case block and "&" worked in cross stitch
Band of sawtooth in satin stitch
"a-x" lower case block worked in cross stitch over one
"y z" lower case block worked in cross stitch over one
Band of queen stitch
"1-9" worked in eyelet stitch and "M.F." worked in cross stitch
"Sarah Folger. Springfield Sept. 15/ 1819" worked in satin, cross over one, and double cross stitches
Sampler is enclosed in a cross stitch border on all four sides.

Stitches: cross over one and two; double cross, eyelet, queen, and satin
Label TextSarah Folger worked two samplers, which show the progression of needlework skills that young girls learned by first working a simple alphabet sampler and then a more complicated one with intricate stitches and designs. Her practice piece is marked "Springfield" for the Springfield Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, founded in 1818 and located in Clinton County near Wilmington, Ohio. Sarah's 1820 sampler illustrates quite an improvement in her needlework skills, as seen in multicolor plinths holding woven baskets of flowers. The plinths are actually half-geometric medallions, a hallmark of Quaker samplers, usually worked in black or brown threads.

Originally from Nantucket, Massachusetts, the Folger family was in Ohio by 1814. Members of the Society of Friends, they were listed among the founding families of the Cincinnati Monthly Meeting. Sarah was the seventh child of Tristram and Mary Folger. She was disowned from the Cincinnati Monthly Meeting in 1830 after she married Rufus Crane, a non-Quaker, in 1829. The couple had seven children between 1830 and 1849. Sarah died of consumption on May 22, 1871, in Cincinnati. Her two samplers, along with a sister's sampler, several pieces of unfinished needlework, family bibles, and memory books probably descended through Sarah's daughters. The group of related objects provide a rare glimpse into the lives of a nineteenth-century family, and illustrate the importance placed on needlework and the education of children.
Inscribed"MF"
"Sarah Folger. Springfield Spet. 15/ 1819."
Markings"MF"
ProvenanceThis alphabet sampler marked "Sarah Folger" is part of a group of samplers and books that descended in the Folger-Crane family of Cincinnati, Ohio. The sampler maker was Sarah Folger (b. July 11, 1808; d. 1871) seventh child of Tristram (b. 1772; d. Oct. 15, 1815) and Mary Folger (b. 1773; d. 1823). The Folger family, originally from Nantucket, Massachusetts, was in Ohio by 1814. Members of the Society of Friends, they are first listed in Hinshaw's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN QUAKER GENEALOGY, Vol. V, as transferring to the Miami Monthly Meeting in Warren County, then on to Cincinnati, where they were listed among the founding families of the Cincinnati Monthly Meeting (set apart from Miami MM on March 23, 1814).

Sarah Folger married Rufus Crane on May 14, 1829. Because Sarah married out of unity (contrary to Quaker discipline) she was disowned from the Cincinnati Monthly Meeting in 1830. The Cranes moved for several years to Cambridge City, Indiana. Sometime between 1836 and 1843, they returned to Hamilton Country, Ohio. Sarah and Rufus Crane had seven children born between 1830 and 1849, the last three being born after their return to Cincinnati. Rufus Crane died on April 8, 1861 of "laryngites", and is interred in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Sarah died of consumption on May 22, 1871 in Cincinnati.

The samplers, family bibles, and books probably descended through Sarah's daughters.