Sampler by Letitia Malvina Mills

DateAugust 29th, 1826

Maker Letitia Malvina Mills (1820 - Feb. 22, 1850)

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 30 x 30 threads per inch (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsUnframed: 16 3/4” x 15 3/4”

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2013-81

DescriptionThis is a square sampler worked in yellow, two shades of green, two shades of blue, and two shades of brown silk embroidery threads on a plain-woven linen ground. The top half begins with two lines of capital letters sewn in an eyelet stitch, ending in Y. The thread color is changed every four letters. Beneath the two lines is a line of double cross stitch. The Z of the same style begins the third line of lettering and is followed by two lines of capital letters in a script style of a smaller scale than the previous alphabet worked in cross stitch. The second line is filled out with the letter combinations “st,” “sh,” “sk,” and “si” in lower case. These letter combinations are likely ligatures. The letter rows are separated from the central scene by a row of cross-stitched flowers.

The central scene consists of a building with a single peaked roof and two chimneys. The façade has five green windows and blue steps leading up to double doors. It is flanked by an imaginatively colored bird on the left and a chicken on the right, followed by bird-topped, tall flower trees. Baskets of flowers, again topped with birds are on the sides of the scene, over a duck (left) and a dog and two flowers (right).

Beneath the scene is the signature line, “Letitia Malvina Mills her work ended August/ 29th in her 7th Year Savannah.” The remaining portion of the line is filled by a sawtooth pattern in a faux satin stitch. The final line is a simplified Greek key design worked in green cross stitches filled in with brown to make a single rectangular block.

The sampler is enclosed on all four sides in an undulating border of rose buds or strawberries worked in a cross stitch.

Stitches: counted satin, cross, cross over two, double cross, square eyelet
Label TextAs she so proudly stitched on her sampler, Letitia Malvina Mills of Savannah, Georgia, created this sampler when she was only six years old. The sampler depicts an impressive amount of skill for a sampler maker so young. Some of the motifs, including the five-windowed house and tall, narrow trees, are similar to motifs seen in Charleston samplers, suggesting that Letitia's sampler teacher may have been from Charleston.
InscribedThe letter combinations “st,” “sh,” “sk,” and “si” in lower case are likely ligatures.
ProvenanceMade by Letitia Mills, Savannah, GA, 1827-1830.
By descent to her sister, Sarah Mills Turner, Savannah, GA, c. 1850.
By descent to her daughter, Rosa Turner, Savannah, GA.
By descent to her daughter, Maude Tilton, Savannah, GA.
Given to her daughter, Constance Lawton, Savannah, GA, October 17, 1933.
By descent two successive generations to Mrs. Leslie John Huntley, Jr.
Purchased by CWF through M. Finkel & Daughter, Philadelphia, 2013.
An extensive newspaper coverage of a prominent family wedding in 1933 includes mention and description of this sampler, which was given as a wedding gift at that time.

HISTORY OF MAKER:
Letitia Malvina Mills was born in about 1820 to William C. Mills (died 1848) and Sarah S. Lewis Mills (died 1857) in Savannah, Georgia. William owned a quarter lot with a house in Anson Ward, the area surrounding Savannah's Oglethorpe Square. Before 1827, he acquired an additional lot and house on Williams Street, which he signed over to his wife.

On April 5, 1842, Letitia married Dr. Lewis Tattnall Turner (1819-1868) at Savannah's Trinity Methodist Church. Lewis was a physician from Bryan County. The wedding was officiated by the widely respected Reverend James Ezekiel Evans. Letitia and Lewis returned to his home in the hamlet of Hardwick, in Bryan County. Between 1842 and 1850 Letitia had four children, including Lewis Tattnall Turner Jr. (1849-1868) and Frances Turner (born 1849).

Letitia passed away suddenly on February 22, 1850 in Hardwick. Lewis then married her sister, Sarah, the next year, and this sampler was passed down through Sarah’s descendants. Her son, Lewis Jr., went on to become a Confederate officer and prominent cotton merchant in Savannah.