Sampler

Period1843

MediumPlied wool and plied silk threads on linen

Dimensions18 × 16.63 in. (45.7 × 42.2 cm)

ClassificationsNeedlework

Credit LineGift of Miss Laura Conover, 1940

Object number1416

DescriptionA verse and family record needlework sampler on natural linen, with decorative elements worked in plied wool yarns in bright shades of dark blue, light blue, turquoise, red, orange, yellow, rose, pale pink, purple, cream white, light brown, and black. The sampler's verse and family names are worked in plied silk thread, originally black, now faded to dark brown. Both wool and silk embroidery are done in cross stitch. Nine floral motifs are arranged on the square sampler in three rows. Floral wreaths encircle family names and dates, with two wreaths in the top row, one in the middle row, and two on the bottom row. The wreaths alternate with elaborate floral arrangements in vases, with a single vase in the top and bottom rows, and two vases in the center row. The sampler's verse is spaced between the floral elements and is arranged in two columns, beginning "Religion is the chief concern / Of mortals here below; / May its great importance learn, Its sovereign virtue know; / More needful this, than glittering wealth, / Or aught the world bestows, / Nor reputation, food, or health, / Can give us such repose." The second column begins "Religion should our thoughts engage / Amidst our youthful bloom; / Twill fit us for declining age, / And for the awful tomb. / O, may my heart, by grace renewed, / Be my Redeemer's throne; / And be my stubborn will subdued, / His government to own." Family names read, beginning with the wreath at top left, "D. Vanderveer / was born April / 19th 1806," "M. Vanderveer / was born June / 20th 1809," "H. Vanderveer / was born June / 4th 1829," "W. Vanderveer / was born July 22d 1831," and "J. Vanderveer / was born Sept / 28th 1836." Below the top floral vase is the worked "1843," the year the sampler was created. Below the bottom row is the additional inscription "D. A. Vanderveer was born June 23d / 1844." A floral border including forget-me-nots and pansies edge all four sides.
Curatorial RemarksFamily registers are interesting variations on the more typical alphabet and verse samplers. This type of genealogical sampler was an American development and was particularly popular during the first decades of the new United States. It was not entirely unusual for girls to return to their samplers to add additional family members' names, birth or death dates. The verses in Hannah's sampler were excerpted from the hymn "Religion the One Thing Needful," which appeared in William Cozwell's "Assistant to Family Religion, or Manual on Theology and Devotions (New York: Crocker & Brewster, 1836). Hannah commemorated more than her family in her own sampler. With its traditional silk cross stitch work placed within the more modern Berlin wool work embroidery floral wreaths, Hannah's work marked the profound change in American needlework fashion beginning in the 1840s and 1850s. The introduction of brightly colored, fade-resistant, and less expensive wool yarns combined with the introduction of commercially printed embroidery patterns made needlework available to a much wider audience.NotesA lifelong resident of Freehold, Monmouth County, Hannah Matilda Vanderveer (4 June 1829 - 15 March 1900) chose to commemorate her family in a floral sampler dated 1843. Within floral wreathes, Hannah recorded her father, David I. Vanderveer (1806 - 1884), her mother Mary Conover (1809 - 1861), and her siblings. At the time she completed the sampler in 1843, she included her two younger brothers William C. (1831 - 1923) and John D. (1836 - 1901). The following year, Hannah returned to her sampler to add the name and birth of her youngest sibling, brother David Arthur (1844 - 1922). On 5 February 1851, Hannah married David Clark Perrine (1816 - 1888), a very prominent Freehold merchant and businessman. The couple had five children, four of whom died before the age of ten. In her obituary, which appeared in the 15 March 1900 issue of the Monmouth Democrat, Hannah was described as follows, "Mrs. Perrine was many years a member of the Freehold Presbyterian Church and an earnest supporter. She was a woman of strong and efficient character, and was highly respected and esteemed by all who knew her." Hannah and her husband were interred in the graveyard of Old Tennent Presbyterian Church near Freehold. The Association owns a sampler done by Hannah's second cousin Sarah Ann Vanderveer (1821 - 1890), a family record style needlework completed in 1833.

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