Family Record

This sampler was stitched by Elizabeth Stone in 1820, when she was 12 years old. We know from the sampler that Elizabeth was the eldest child of William Stone (1781–1856) and Elizabeth Coolidge Stone (1784–1874), who were married in Watertown, Massachusetts, on April 9, 1807. Watertown is in Middlesex County, just west of Boston. Eight years after completing this family tree, Elizabeth married Seriah Stevens (1793–1855). They settled in Boston and raised a family of three children.
This “tree of life” or “apple tree” sampler, with its three-sided flower and leaf border and its use of yellow fruit for the girls and white fruit for the boys, is typical of needlework produced in Middlesex County in the first quarter of the 19th century. The linked or overlapping heart motif at the base of the tree is often seen in work produced in this region.