Quilt
Period1843
Place MadeStaten Island, New York, U.S.A.
MediumCotton
Dimensions99 × 99 in. (251.5 × 251.5 cm)
InscribedThe dedication inscriptions notes "Presented to Mrs. Hitchins by C. Bush Oct. 1843 Staten Island Mariners Harbor," worked in fine cross stitch. Additional "signatures" of contributing quilters are also worked in fine cross stitching. Names include "Sarah Jones / Staten Island," "Elizabeth Jones," "Ann Barton," "M. J. Mersereau," "W. A. Post," and "Mary E. Houseman." Other surnames include Decker and Drake. A comparison of the names on this album quilt and the Mariner's Compass quilt (#425) include only one identical name, that of "E. Decker." It appears that different groups of the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church produced three quilts for the Hitchens family.
ClassificationsQuilts and Coverlets
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Joseph Marshall, 1933
Object number424
DescriptionA presentation quilt consisting of twenty five hand-pieced and blind-stitch appliqued blocks of predominantly red, green, blue and white cotton fabrics with a white background throughout. The blocks are straight set 5 x 5 with a narrow grayish-green striped sashing. Some blocks use the "Broderie Perse" applique method. The pieced motifs include "Feathered Star" and "Carpenter's Wheel," and several variations of the "Oak Leaf and Reel" applique pattern. Other blocks are appliqued with eagles, scissors, hands, hearts, stars, and a variety of leafy combinations in symmetrical layouts. The single border is "Orange Peel" with precisely matched corners. The backing is a plain woven white cotton with exceptionally thin batting, with outline and straight stitch quilting stitches. A red straight-grain woven binding is applied around all four edges.Curatorial RemarksThis is one of three very different quilts presented to Huldah Obert Hitchens in 1843. One is a highly individualized album quilt (424), another a sophisticated and well-planned Mariner's Compass quilte (425), and a third a red and white Sawtooth quilt (426). Surnames including Drake, Decker, Mersereau,Post, Houseman, Jones, Barton, Egbert, Crocheron, and Shotwell are all represented in the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church cemetery. Located on Amsterdam Avenue and Richmond Avenue in New Springville on Staten Island, the graveyard was connected to the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church founded in 1802-1803. The Association has numerous quilts in its collection assembled by groups of female congregants for both departure presentation occasions and fundraising "signature" style quilts.NotesThe original accession records note that this is "one of three bedspreads presented to the mother of [the donor] Mrs. Marshall (Arietta Hitchens daughter of Rev. George Hitchens." George Hitchens was born in England in 1815 and emigtrated to the United States in around 1831. In 1837, Hitchens was ordained and was admitted tot he New Jersey Conference. In 1840, Hitchens married Huldah Ann Obert (1816-1899). The couple had at least four children: Harriet, born in 1842; William, born in 1844; Mary E., born in 1848; and Arietta, born in 1854. In some genealogical records, it appears that eldest daughter Harriet and youngest girl Arietta were sometimes confused. The family seems to have moved somewhat often. George and Huldah married in Burlington County, New Jersey. By 1850, the couple and their first children were living in Lower Penns Neck in Salem County, New Jersey. Hitchens served both as pastor and as traveling preacher, covering at various times Methodist churches in Gloucester County, Cumberland County, Monmouth County, and other areas. He did not serve as pastor very long in any one location. Between 1850 and 1860, the Hitchens family stayed longest in the Penns Neck area. After that, Hitchens moved from Glassboro in Gloucester County (1855-1857), Red Bank, Monmouth County (1859), Adelphia, Monmouth County 1879), Howell, Monmouth County (1880), Keyport/Mechanicsville area, particularly St. John's Methodist Church (1887), and others. Hitchens preached at summer Methodist camps at Ocean Grove. In 1888, Rev. Hitchens was appointed as a preacher for Clarksboro in Gloucester County, but put in an application to be relieved of the position due to age and poor health. By 1889, Hitchens and his wife settled in Passaic, Passaic County, New Jersey. In 1890, George and Huldah Hitchens celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary, which was published in several newspapers, noting that Hitchens "is well known in Monmouth, where he was for several years engaged in ministerial work." HIs obituary published in the Camden Courier-Post on August 29, 1895, noted that he was called "Father" Hitchens, and had been a member of the Methodist New Jersey Conference for 58 years. The only surviving family members mentioned other than his son-in-law Dr. J. W. Marshall, also a Methodist minister, was his wife Huldah and daughter Arietta Hitchens Marshall. This "Mariner's Compass" appliqued quilt is one of three given to the Hitchens family by grateful congregants. The two other quilts are accession numbers 424 (a sampler album style) and 426 (a sawtooth pattern). Recent research has identified the names on the quilts as originating from the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church in New Springville, Richmond County, New York. Most of the residents were buried in the Asbury Methodist churchyard. Begun in 1802-1803, the congregation lived in and around Staten Island. The small church was part of the "Northfield circuit," and it is highly likely that in the early years of his career, Hitchens visited the Asbury church to preach regularly. The date of 1843 may commemorate a time when Hitchens was moving to another location, the quilts a hand-sewn reminder of a grateful congregation.
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