QUILT INDEX RECORD

2-33-27

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Signature Quilt Pilot Project

Who documented this quilt?

Signature Quilt Project Public Submission

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Quaker Album Quilt

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Chimney Sweep

Brackman # or other source & #:

Brackman 3266

How wide is the quilt?

80 inches

How long is the quilt?

89 inches

What color is the quilt?

Green; Red; White; Yellow

Type of inscription:

Multiple Names; Place; Signature

What is inscribed on the quilt?

1a Uriah Ward Madison 1b Loretta Cravett Duanesburgh 1c Ruth Harden Duanesburgh 1d Eliza Carpenter Duanesburgh 1e Samuel Davenport Knox 1f Emily Eliza Marshall Quaker Street 1g Hannah Moore Duanesburgh 2a Phebe Ann Robinson Duanesburgh 2b Levi Moore Duanesburgh 2c Mary E. Briggs Schnectady 2d Pamela B. Mead Madison 2e J. C. Norton Norton Hill 2f Eliza Macomber Quaker Street 2g Hanson Lester Duanesburg 3a Walter Briggs, Jr. Quaker Street 3b William McGraw Quaker Street 3c Joseph Mead Madison Tp. 3d Ann Wright Quaker Street 3e Alonzo Macomber Quaker Street 3f Rodney White Schoharie 3g James Leary Henry Quaker Street 4a (blank) 4b Jesse Vandwerken Schnectady 4c Mary Jane Wright Quaker Street 4d Eliza Rowley Quaker Street 4e Marcia Jeanette ? Ward Quaker Street 4f ____ White Duanesburgh 4g Ann Eliza Hoag ? Quaker Street 5a Obed Mead Madison 5b William B. Wright Quaker Street 5c Elizabeth Cramer Quaker Street 5d Sophia Adelaide Wright Quaker Street 5e Permetia Briggs Quaker Street 5f Sarah Briggs Nantucket Isl. 5h Augusta Briggs Nantucket Isl. 6a James Wright Quaker Street 6b Susan Wright Quaker Street 6c (blank) 6d George P. Cramer 6e Job Briggs Quaker Street 6f Caroline Amelia Briggs Nantucket Isl. 6gFrank A. Davenport Knox 7a Ebenezer Wright Quaker Street 7b Philo Briggs Albany 7c Mary Levey Schoharie 7d Peter Sisson ? Quaker Street 7e Henry D. Briggs Nantucket Isl. 7f Mary Briggs Duanesburgh 7g Alden Sisson Duanesburgh 9a James Harden ? 9b Delilah Cravett Duanesburgh 9c William Henry King Duanesburgh 9d Frances Hannah Briggs Nantucket Isl. 9e Lucy Ann White Duanesburgh 9f Phoebe Marietta Gifford MASS 9r Amanda Mead? Moore? Duanesburgh

Method used to make the inscription:

Ink

Location of inscription:

on block

Time period:

Timespan

Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:

ca. 1850

Further information concerning dates:

The youngest member of the Wright family with a signature on the quilt was Ann, born about 1846. The quilt must have been made after 1846.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Describe the techniques used to make the quilt top:

The blocks that alternate with the Chimney Sweep blocks all have appliqued flowers or wreaths, except for one. Near the center of the quilt is a block with am applieqed two-story house between two emboidered trees, and a small animal in the foreground.

Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:

trees, with a small animal in the foreground.

Quilt top made by:

Friends, neighbors, relatives of the Ebenezer Wright family

Where the quilt was made, city:

Quaker Street

Where the quilt was made, county:

Schnectady

Where the quilt was made, state:

New York

Where the quilt was made, province:

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

Locations writteen beneath the signatures are from two states, New York and Massachusetts. The New York towns named are Quaker Street, Duanesburgh, Albany, Schenectady, Schoharie, Knox, Madison and Norton Hll. All of these towns except the last two are within a short distane from each other where three counties (Schenectady Scoharie, and Albany) come together. There are five signatures from the Briggs family on Nantucket Island, Masssachusetts. Susan Wright's maiden name was Briggs.

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

This quilt was written about in an article titled "Researching An Album Quilt" by Nancy Hornback, in Blanket Statements, newsletter of the American Quilt Study Group, Fall 2004. Two publications were helpful in researching the area where the quilt was made: The Story of the Friends Meeting House at Quaker Street, N.Y. by Majorie R Hoag Phillips, 1944. Town of Duanesburg: A Look at Its Past, compiled by William Tiffany Avery; published by Duanesburg HIstorical Society, 2004.

Quilt owner's name:

Wichita Sedgwick County Historical Society

Quilt owner's city:

Wichita

Quilt owner's state:

Kansas

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Description of quilt:

The quilt consists of 56 pieced Chimney Sweep blocks set on the diagonal, with alternate blocks of appliqued flowers and wreaths. White strips in the center of each pieced block are inscibed with names and places. All signatures are written in ink and are in one handwriting.

Essay:

The original purpose of the quilt is not known. A note in the quilt's file at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum states that the quilt was "from the Wright family." The 1860 federal census lists an Ebenzer Wright residing in Quaker Street, New York, wife Susan, childen Sophia, James, William, Mary, and Ann, all names on the quilt. The quilt passed down through the family of Sophia Wright (1834-1878). Sophia taught school before marrying Ward W. Sweet, an officer in the Union Army. About 1877 the Sweet family moved to Wichita, Kansas with their children Robert, Frederick and Susan.

Who photographed this quilt?

Jamie Frazier Tracy

Access and copyright information:

Open/Public Domain

Details