Sampler (Verse sampler)

Description

This is a linen verse sampler with silk threads. It was worked by Hannah Harlan Bringhurst, probably from Philadelphia or Wilmington, Delaware, between 1828 and 1840. This sampler is one of a group of four at Winterthur worked by four different girls from the renowned Philadelphia/Wilmington, Delaware, Bringhurst and Ashburnham family line. Elizabeth Ashburnham’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Ashburnham Smith, married Henry Ryan Bringhurst in 1868, linking both of these Quaker families to Wilmington prominence. The Quaker influence is evident in this and the other samplers, especially those with motifs and decorative elements. Several of the motifs in Hannah's sampler appear to have been copied from engraving or print sources. The inscription reads: "Let gratitude in acts of goodness flow; / Our love to God, in love to man below. / Be this our joy _ to calm the troubled breast, / Support the weak, and succour the distrest." and her name, "Hannah H. Bringhurst"