Sampler
Maker
Hannah Dorset Taylor
Period1811
MediumEmbroidered silk on linen
DimensionsSight: 22.63 × 16 in. (57.5 × 40.6 cm)
SignedBelow the alphabets is an inscription reading, "Hannah D. Taylors work 1811."
ClassificationsNeedlework
Credit LineGift of Edward N. King, Jr., and Mary Beth Stafford-Smith King, in Memory of Edward Naylor King, Sr., and Edward Burke Stafford-Smith, their fathers, 1994
Object number1994.10
DescriptionThis sampler's upper two-thirds is divided into three complete alphabets. The top alphabet is worked in small upper case letters, with the addition of the multiplication sum "2 x 2 = 4" to fill the leftover space. A small lower case alphabet takes up a single line. The bottom alphabet is worked in large upper case letters in shades of dark and pale blue, red, white, pale yellow, olive green, and white. Below the alphabets is the inscription reading "Hannah D. Taylors work 1811." The lower third of the sampler depicts a hilly landscape. Atop a central hill stands a white turreted structure, possibly a memorial, framed by a pair of trees. At right, a large and elaborate four-story white building features two towers topped with domes and spires. Additional trees and shrubbery dot the deep green grassy landscape, and a single small white bird perches on the foremost tree. An acorn and strawberry border is worked in shades of green, red, white, pale blue, and yellow. Along the outside of the embroidered border is a narrow edging of drawn work, done by judiciously pulling and gathering the linen threads to create patterned spaces. All embroidered work is done using either cross or Algerian eyelet stitching.Curatorial RemarksWhen a survey of American samplers was conducted in 1920 by the Massachusetts Society of the Colonial Dames of America, New Jersey yielded the second largest number of examples after Massachusetts. Schoolmistresses are documented as teaching needlework and other suitable subjects to young ladies in day academies or boarding schools in Mount Holly, Trenton, Woodbury, Pennington, Cream Ridge, and several locations in Burlington County. These centers for needlework instruction have been identified either by the appearance of a teacher's or school's name stitched into a sampler or by advertisements in newspapers of the time. The quality and design of Hannah Dorset Taylor's sampler suggests that she studied under a professional teacher, most likely in a local school which offered sewing and needlework as part of the curriculum. The Middletown Academy, near the Taylor family home, was open as early as 1785. Hannah's second cousin, Edward Taylor, attended the Academy in 1812. It also offered a program for girls. It would be a likely place for Hannah to have learned the skills to produce such an accomplished sampler. For another sampler worked under an instructor at the Middletown Academy, see accession number 2018.1.1.NotesThis sampler's maker, Hannah Dorset Taylor, was born in 1797, the first born of Joseph Taylor (1771 - 1836) and Martha Dorset (1775 - 1850), who married the same year their first child was born. Hannah was one of thirteen children, several of whom were given their mother's maiden name for their middle name. Hannah and her siblings grew up in the upper part of the village of Middletown, first at a house at the foot of Ruckman's Hill on what is now Red Hill Road. Then during the same year his eleventh child was born in 1814, Joseph built a larger home for his growing family on the south side of the same road. Joseph was a tanner and currier by trade. He also served as Justice of the Peace. Through his side, Hannah was a direct descendant of John (1716 - 1798) and Edward Taylor (1712 - 1783) one time owners of nearby Marlpit Hall. Her brother, Joseph Dorset Taylor (1802 - 1864), would later built Taylor-Butler House with his wife and first cousin, Mary Holmes Taylor (1814 -1897). Hannah married Ezra Osborn (1792 - 1877) in 1817. They settled in the old Taylor family house where Hannah had grown up and there they raised eight children. Ezra had first worked for Hannah's father, then was in business on his own as a harness maker, a trade that his oldest son entered and eventually assumed responsibility for the flourishing business. On Thanksgiving Day of 1861, the extended Taylor family met for a reuinion at the house their father had built in 1814. Brother John was host and he published a pamphlet containing an account of that day and a brief genealogy of the family. All of the brothers and sisters were in attendance along with several great aunts, grandchildren, and neighbors, and two former slaves of the Dorset and Taylor families who had settled nearby. Hannah was sixteen when she completed her sampler. The Association owns another sampler worked in 1821 by Hannah's younger sister, Eleanor Lyell Taylor (1810 - 1894). See accession number 2084.22. A photograph of the house in which Hannah D. Taylor grew up was taken about 1890 by Edward Taylor (1848 - 1911). At the time it was occupied by her brother John Taylor. The Middletown Township Historical Society owns fine oil on canvas portraits of Hannah D. Taylor Osborn and her husband Ezra. They are dated 1848, when Hannah was age fifty-one.
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