Object Number 1991.0004 A, B

Object Name

Sampler (Alphabet sampler)

Category

Textiles (Needlework)

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Elizabeth Oat Rockwell in memory of Martha Elizabeth Taylor Oat

Creator (Role)

Martha Taylor (Maker)
September 29, 1785
Martha Taylor and her sister Elizabeth Taylor are from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Their parents are Elizabeth and James Taylor. Martha was born on September 29, 1785 and Elizabeth was born on October 8, 1789. Both sisters attended Leah Bratten Galligher's school, which opened in Lancaster early in 1797. (See object files for genealogy.)

Leah Bratten Galligher Meguier (School mistress)
May 23, 1764-February 1, 1830
Leah and her sister Rachel Bratten were born near Wilmington, Delaware in 1764, but by 1778, if not earlier, the Bratten family was living in Derry Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Leah and Rachel were the youngest of George and Sarah Bratten's (d. 1797) six daughters. They also had a brother named George. They must have had advanced instruction in ornamental needlework, possibly in Philadelphia, or perhaps in Lancaster. Leah and Rachel married at the ages of twenty-seven and twenty-nine. Leah married twice, first to Francis Galligher on November 10, 1791, and second to Isaac Meguier (Maguire) at a later date. As Mrs. Galligher, Leah opened Leah Galligher's School in Lancaster in 1797. In 1802, Leah and Francis Galligher dissolved their marriage. Clearly there were problems with their marriage, as Leah filed for divorce soon after this sampler was made. The reason cited for her divorce was her husband's impotency, which made the couple a focus of both gossip and slander. Shortly thereafter, Leah moved to Harrisburg to open another school. Leah married Isaac Meguier, a boot and shoemaker, on June 15, 1805. In 1806, Leah Meguier's School was named on Rachel Geiger's sampler. The most elaborate samplers to name Leah's school were worked between 1806 and 1812. In the fall of 1815 Leah and Isaac moved to the country; possibly back to Lancaster or even Dauphin, Pennsylvania. The last recorded sampler naming Leah's school was in 1826. Leah died on February 1, 1830. (Ring, Betty. Girlhood Embroidery, Vol. II, pp. 410-417)(Also, see inscription on Sarah Holsworth's sampler 1957.0671 A)

Place of Origin

Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Secondary Place of Origin

Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Secondary Origin Notes

Martha Taylor worked this sampler while under the tutelage of her instructress Leah Bratten Galligher (Meguier).

Date

1798

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; On the sampler; "Martha Taylor Made / this sampler in the 12 / year of her age in / Mrfs Galligher.s School / by her Direction in the year of our Lord / 1798" (embroidered silk thread)

Materials

Linen; Silk

Techniques

Embroidered, Woven (plain)

Construction Description

Hand-embroidered

Dimensions (inches)

14.12 (L) , 7.5 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

35.865 (L) , 19.05 (W)

Measurement Notes

Dimensions refer to area of needlework visible within frame.

Object Description

Web - 08/25/2014

This is an alphabet sampler worked in 1798 by Martha Taylor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Martha attended Leah Bratten Galligher's school, which opened in Lancaster early in 1797. While in attendance at this particular school, Martha also worked a fancy sampler, dated March 2, 1797. Her fancy sampler is the earliest known example from Mrs. Galligher's school, and was wrought even before the school's opening was advertised. Oddly, Martha's fancy sampler seems to have been worked before her marking sampler. The inscription on her marking sampler reads: "Martha Taylor Made / this sampler in the 12 / year of her age in / Mrss Galligher.s School / by her Direction in the year of our Lord / 1798" with the devotional hymn at the bottom: "And Must this body die / this mortal frame deca[y] / And Must these active / limbs of mine lie / mouldring in the clay"

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Article] Van Horn, Jennifer. "Gentility, and the Middling Sort". Winterthur Portfolio. Vol. 40 (No. 4)
• Published: p. 228, fig. 7