Images(4)

Sampler by Susannah Kennerly

Date1819

Maker Susannah Kennerly (1805-1897)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Lynchburg

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 27 x 27 threads per inch (Identification of fibers by eye)

DimensionsOW: 15 3/8" x OH: 24 1/2"

Credit LineGift of the Powers Family in memory of David W. Powers and in honor of Kimberly S. Ivey

Object number2019-122

DescriptionThis is a rectangular sampler worked in faded shades of black, blue, gold, beige, green, and brown silk embroidery threads on a natural color linen ground. The sampler is hemmed on two sides with a 1/8" hem and has selvages at top and bottom.
From the top the sampler consists of:
"A-M" uppercase block in eyelet stitch
"N-Y" uppercase block in eyelet stitch
Decorative band in cross stitch
"AA-CCCDDDE-GGHIIK-MMNNOPQ" uppercase block in cross stitch
"QRSSTTUUVVWWXYYZ" uppercase block, "&", and "1-5" in cross stitch
"a-i k-r ss u-z" lowercase block and "6-10" in cross stitch
"A-Y" uppercase block in four-sided stitch (row is outlined in four-sided stitch)
"A-I K-S" [TUVWXYZ] uppercase block, followed by sets of ligatures in tent stitch
"a-z" "abdefghikl-z" lowercase block in tent stitch
"1-14" in tent stitch followed by a decorative area of diamond motif
Band of tent stitch
The signature line in the upper middle of the sampler reads: "Susannah K[enne]rly. [wrou]ght this sample[r] a[t] Lynchburg [in th]e 15th/ [y]ea[r] [of] [h]er age. [A.]D. 181[?]." This is followed by a diamond motif.
Below this is the inscription "[?]. [Ken]nerl[y]" followed by a double heart motif and remnants of letters that are indecipherable, and the initials "SK." This is followed by a large sawtooth mound worked in Irish stitch.
Vine band in tent stitch
"A-I K-P" uppercase script in cross stitch
"Q-Z" uppercase script followed by decorative motifs in cross stitch
Sawtooth band in satin stitch
A verse two thirds down the sampler worked in tent stitch reads: "When all thy mercies, O my God. My rising soul surveys./ Transported with the view I'm lost In wonder love and praise."
Centered in sampler: "C.I.T."
The bottom third of the sampler consists of a two-story blue house with a gated fence; five potted plants; two birds in a double cage; two flowering vines; a two-story house (church) with tree; and a decorative diamond of queen stitches.

A simple undulating inner border and an outer border of hemstitch encloses the sampler at top and sides.

Stitches: cross (over 1 and 2), double cross, eyelet, four-sided, hem, Irish, queen, satin, seed (or some type of flat stitch), tent (or half cross)

Label TextSusannah Kennerly's sampler marked "Lynchburg" is one of the earliest of a group of samplers worked in Lynchburg, Virginia, between 1815 and 1833, and later in Tennessee. Susannah's older sister Mary worked an almost identical sampler in 1815. The sisters were the daughters of Joseph and Sally Christian Kennerly. Joseph Kennerly owned a tobacco warehouse and land across the James River from Lynchburg in Amherst County. The sampler is a gift to the Art Museums in memory of David Powers.
Inscribed"[?]. [Ken]nerl[y]" followed by a double heart motif and remnants of letters that are indecipherable, and the initials "SK."

"When all thy mercies, O my God. My rising soul surveys./ Transported with the view I'm lost In wonder love and praise."

"C.I.T."
ProvenanceThe sampler was purchased by David and Jenny Powers on eBay in 2000 and was given to Colonial Williamsburg Foundation by Jenny Powers in memory of David Powers in 2019.

History of sampler maker:
Susannah Kennerly (b. March 5, 1805) was the daughter of Joseph and Sally Christian Kennerly of Amherst and Patrick Counties, Virginia. According to Amelia H. Scott in TALES OF THE TERRELLS, Joseph Kennerly owned a tobacco warehouse and land across the James River in Madison Heights on the site of the present Lynchburg Training School and Hospital. Susannah married Dr. Christopher Johnson Terrell, a Quaker, on August 22, 1822 in Amherst County, Virginia. In 1831, the family moved to Missouri. Dr. Terrell died in Booneville, Missouri in 1833. Susannah married twice more, to Robert Patterson Clark, and Major Abraham Clark Penn. In 1862, Susanna Kennerly Terrell Clark Penn returned to the family home, Rock Castle (probably in Bedford County, Virginia), where she died in 1897.