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Mitts
Mitts
Mitts

Mitts

PeriodCirca 1790
Place MadeForty Fort, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
MediumLinen
Dimensions9.5 × 5.38 in. (24.1 × 13.7 cm)
ClassificationsAccessories, Women's
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Walter Sees, 1946
Object number3042.1
DescriptionA pair of women's work fingerless gloves, known as mitts, in a soft dark brown linen. The pointed edge above the knuckles is folded back and sewn to the mitt body to form a decorative tab. The mitts include a half-thumb and ornamental clocking on the tops of the mitts in tan thread in three chain stitch lines.
Curatorial RemarksMitts, or fingerless gloves, were a popular and enduring fashion accessory for eighteenth and early nineteenth century women. Their construction allowed for free movement of fingers for work, embroidery, or other tasks while keeping their wearer's hands warm or protected from the sun. Numerous early American examples survive, made of wool, silk, or linen, usually with simple embroidery detailing such as the trio of stitched lines along the tops.NotesThese eighteenth century mitts are thought to have been worn by Martha Bennett Peck (1763 - 1851), great grandmother of American poet and author Stephen Crane (1871 - 1900). Martha Bennett was born in Scituate, Rhode Island. In 1781 she married Philip Myers (1759 - 1835). The couple raised thirteen children in Forty Fort, Pennsylvania. Martha, her parents Thomas and Martha Jackson Bennett, and her nine siblings experienced numerous dramatic events during the American Revolution, particularly during the Battle of Wyoming on July 3, 1778. According to family lore, as a young girl Martha "began to develop extraordinary skill at house work, and great power of endurance." Her mitts are well worn, and repaired and patched several times to extend their wear. Martha Bennett Myers died on January 3, 1851 at the age of 88. Her mitts descended to her granddaughter Mary Helen Peck Crane. Crane was highly active in the women's temperance movement and within the Methodist Church. She may have given the gloves to family friend Elizabeth Leete Sees (1877 - 1959), who was also active in the First Methodist Church of Asbury Park, where Crane attended services when her son, Stephen Crane, lived in the area.
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