Autograph quilt

1850-1865

Measurements

97 in x 87 in

Materials

Cotton

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation; gift of John A.H. Sweeney

Accession Number

1985.47

Comments

The quilt is divided into sixteen squares, each with a name in the center on a white cross.  One name is William Corbit, but it may reference William Brinton Corbit (1840-1882), a physician in Philadelphia, who served in the Civil War.  He moved to Washington, DC, after his 1876 marriage.  All of the names in order are:  Elizabeth Sprenkel, Margaret Wert, Rachel Ann Sitler, Ann M. Morris, Elizabeth Riter, Charlotte Clark, Elizabeth Clark, Sarah Dritt, Elizabeth A. Mann, William Corbit, Caroline L. Burg, Susannah Jamison, Catherine Dritt, Henry Writtenhouse, Dr. W. H. Burg, Hannah Jamison.

The red, white, and green quilt is sewn in a "Chimney sweep" pattern variation.

Bibliography

Jessica Nicoll, Quilted for Friends: Delaware Valley Signature Quilts, 1840–1855 (Winterthur, Del.:  Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1986), 37-38.