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Object Story: Mary Craig Hamlen's Sampler
Mary Craig Hamlen (American, born 1793), Sampler, 1807, Augusta, Maine, cotton on unidentified fabric. Jonathan and Karin Fielding Collection, L2015.41.67
Nine-year-old Mary Craig Hamlen’s hand-stitched sampler could be seen as one small step on the path towards better opportunities for her and for women in general. A sampler is a piece of embroidery that girls completed in order to demonstrate both their needlework competence and their basic understanding of letters and numbers.
Mary was probably the daughter of Theophilus Hamlen, a carpenter who built his own store in Augusta, Maine, and later went on to run the Kennebec Hotel and stageline. Mary was the fifth of eight children.
Sampler
Sampler
Mary Craig Hamlen (American, born 1793), Sampler, 1807, Augusta, Maine, cotton on unidentified fabric. Jonathan and Karin Fielding Collection, L2015.41.67
Clues in the Making
There are differences between samplers that came from different regions and colonies. Many samplers are anonymous and don’t have information about who made them or where they came from. Sometimes the samplers do give clues about where they came from. This might include the types of materials, the design, and the different styles or motifs included that were specific to the particular instructor.
Learning to Cross-stitch
Girls would often start by learning how to cross-stitch the alphabet and numbers and different geometric shapes. They learned how to keep their work in neat horizontal rows. Most samplers would include two or more different styles of letters.
Unique Stitch
The “sampler” was how girls learned how to make a particular type of stitch including patterns, borders and figures.
Chosen Verses
Depending on where they learned their needlework, some girls might also learn poems and Bible verses.
Mary’s sampler reads:
“Quickly lay hold on time while to your power/Be careful well to husband (manage well) every hour/Wisdom to gold prefer, for ‘tis much less/To make your fortune than your happiness.”
Why do you think this saying was chosen for the sampler?
Abigail M. Andrews (American, born 1818), Andrews family sampler, Woonsocket Falls, Rhode Island, ca. 1831, silk on linen. Gift of Jonathan and Karin Fielding, 2016.25.61
This is another common type of sampler that included a family record. It was made by Abigail M. Andrews when she was thirteen years old. In addition to listing the birth, death, and marriage dates of most members of her immediate family, she also includes the name and location of the school where she was a pupil: “D. Warren’s school Woonsocket Falls.”
The sampler features this verse:
“When to my work God puts an end / And hence my soul doth call / May I with joy to heaven assend / And quit this earthly ball.”
Samplers often included quotes from the Bible or other morals and values.
Question for Discussion
- What are the factors that made some women push for equality and a better life while others did not? Consider family expectations or support, income level, education, friends, age, mindset, and other factors.
Suggested Activities
- Compare the samplers with other examples showing how children learned to read in different time periods. Compare a sampler, a horn book, and a writing chart.
- Explore the Sampler Archive and compare other samplers from the same region.
- Make your own: design a sampler.
