Sampler (Fancy sampler)

Description

This is a fancy sampler worked in 1799 by Sarah Holsworth of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, while under the tuition of her instructress Leah Bratten Galligher (Meguier). Mrs. Galligher is thought to have developed this sampler style herself. Many of her student's samplers survive - they embody the typical style of samplers seen throughout the region. The accurate reproduction of the Lancaster Poorhouse might have been made from plans, as it was being constructed in 1799. This might also be explained by Sarah dating her sampler before it was completed. The Lancaster County Poorhouse commenced operations in 1800. Although most samplers feature the family of their maker, Sarah Holsworth's does not. Instead it describes the family of her teacher, Leah Bratton Galligher, who was a controversial figure at the time. Married in 1791, Leah Galligher and her husband, Francis, opened a school in Lancaster in 1797. 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. Perhaps Leah's family history, displayed so publicly in the Holsworth home, was intended to document her respectability.