Medal (Award or premium)

Description

This die-struck bronze medal was engraved as a second premium award to textile manufacturer Henry Hale Stevens of the Stevens Linen Works in Webster, Massachusetts in 1849. Stevens, son of a prominent Massachusetts flannel manufacturer, had converted a wool factory into a linen mill in 1846 and his entry of imitation Barnsley [British] linen garnered notice in Philadelphia's Franklin Institute annual exhibition. When this medal entered a museum collection, it was accompanied by a letter dated 1909 indicating that it had never been delivered. The letter noted that it had been in safe keeping at the Franklin Institute, but at that time would be delivered to Steven's son, Eben S. Smith. (See Notes.)