Quilt
PeriodCirca 1880-1890
MediumVarious printed cottons
Dimensions83 × 77.75 in. (210.8 × 197.5 cm)
ClassificationsQuilts and Coverlets
Credit LineGift of Janet Gemmell Jainschiegg, 1990
Object number1990.20.5
DescriptionA quilt in the Brown Goose pattern, with blocks set on point in a five by four arrangement and half blocks along the edges, with two quarter blocks at the top left and right corners. The backing is a white cotton printed with a small allover floral pattern in red. The bold red sashing fabric is also used for the border and binding. The quilt is includes a thin batting, probably cotton, with large outline quilt stitches.Curatorial RemarksThe maker, or makers, of this quilt are unknown. Like the Shoo Fly quilt 1990.20.6, also owned by Mary Nobles, this Brown Goose quilt may have been made by the Ladies Aid Society of the Atlantic Highlands Methodist Church, or the ladies of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and presented to Mrs. Nobles in the late 1880s. Neither quilt includes inscriptions or signatures, but both date to around the same time period based upon fabric patterns. The Brown Goose pattern was also called the Double Z, Devil's Claws, and the Gray Goose, and was popular from the 1850s through the 1880s.NotesThis colorful Brown Goose pattern quilt came into the collection with another quilt, accession 1990.20.6. Both quilts were owned by Atlantic Highlands resident Mary Parcells Vail Nobles (1829-1916). Research has uncovered a complex and at times heartbreaking story behind Mary Nobles. Born in 1829 in Essex County, New Jersey, Mary married Moses Vail in 1846. The couple had one child, a daughter they named Mary, before Moses died in around 1848. Mary married a second time to John Chatfield Nobles in 1868. The couple most likely met in the Newark area when Nobles, then a widower, located there with his children to take up a position as a preacher in a local Methodist church. It is uncertain whether Mary understood Nobles' past history and certainly did not know what was in store for her in the years to come. Nobles, born in 1827 in upstate New York, was the son of Reverend Lemuel Nobles. John followed his father into the ministry, and at the young age of 17 moved to Michigan to take up his first post, returning to New York after a relatively short period of time. Nobles had also been married before. He and his wife Laura Gordon married in 1849. Records of the births of their six children reveal that Nobles moved from county to county, town to town. Daughter Louise was born in 1850 in Franklinville, Cattarangus County, NY; Wilbor, 1851, Centerville, Allegany County, NY; Helen, 1853, Covington, Wyoming County, NY; Milton, 1857, Elmira, Chemung County, NY; and youngest child George, 1859, Milo, Yates County, NY. George died at the age of four in 1864. Reverend Nobles had serious issues, including bouts of alcoholism and loss of position. Laura Nobles died on 21 June 1867, after which time John Nobles relocated to Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. Less than a year later, Nobles remarried, this time to widow Mary Parcells Vail. The couple married on 18 March 1868. Nobles continued to move from place to place. By around 1878 the couple had finally settled in Atlantic Highlands, Monmouth County, New Jersey, where Nobles left the ministry and took up land speculation, working as an independent sales agent and promoter. Nobles threw himself into developing the Atlantic Highlands area, once farmland, into a seasonal community to rival Asbury Park, Long Branch, and Ocean Grove. Mary Parcells Nobles was active in the Atlantic Highlands Methodist Church. She was also active in the area's Women's Christian Temperance Union, serving as its president for several years. By 1883, Nobles' business efforts resulted in serious debts. He left home, going to New York City where he mailed a suicide note to the newspapers. He was found several days later, His wife and family friends brought Nobles back to New Jersey where it seems he spent time in an asylum under the care of a doctor. Less than a month later, Nobles was reported as developing new business in the Chicago area. He then attempted to develop a factory in the HIghlands area to manufacture blueing, a coloring and bleaching agent for laundry, but patent infringements and financial overextension caused this to fail. Nobles died in 1887 of a massive stroke. Mary Vail Nobles, left in financial straits, turned her home into a seasonal boarding house. Mrs. Nobles was a success, with numerous local papers describing her welcoming establishment. Nobles continued her work in the WCTU and the Methodist Church. Mary Parcells Vail Nobles died on 12 September 1916 in Atlantic Highlands. Her daughter, Mary E. Vail Mills (1847-1939) inherited several quilts from her mother.
Collections
ProvenanceMary Parcells Vail Nobles (1829-1916) to her daughter Mary E. Vail Mills (1847-1939) to her daughter Mary C. Gemmell (1882-1963) to her daughter Janet Gemmell Jainschiegg (1908-2002)
