LITCHFIELD CO., CONNECTICUT ATTRIBUTED NEEDLEWORK SAMPLER, silk and wool on linen, four alphabet and numeral rows segmented by horizontal bands of linear stitching, below signed "Mary Benton Barnard's Sampler Finished February 7th / 1828", followed by "Diligence Industry and proper improvement of time / are material duties of the young Sincerity and truth form / the basis of every virtue Time once past never returns", all encompassed by a border. Unframed, currently mounted to fabric on a mat. Dated 1828. 15 3/4" x 7" object, 16 1/2" x 7 3/4" OA.
Catalogue Note: Probably identified as Mary Benton Barnard who was born on November 13, 1816 in South Farms, now Morris, Litchfield Co., CT to parents Benton Barnard (1786-1855) and Elizabeth Rhea (1785-1853). Mary married Rev. William Kelsey Hill (1814-1851) on July 13, 1836, and the couple had at least three children. The family moved out of the state to Pleasant Plains, New York and, then, Rockingham, Vermont. Some time after her husband's death, Mary returned to Connecticut and resided in New Haven. She died on April 5, 1862 and is buried at Morris Burying Ground in Morris, CT.
One of her sons, Rowland Hill (1839-1899), settled in Richmond, VA after the Civil War and married Annie Maria Jones (1852-1926) in 1871.
Provenance:
Deaccessioned by the Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA to benefit collections care, preservation, and future acquisitions.
Fair to good overall condition with linen having toning and staining, some scattered small holes, black thread with scattered losses, most of other thread with fugitive color, edges of linen with fraying and possibly cut.








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