Saturday, February 6, 2016

Persis Bradbury Corrected


Last week I did a post on a wool applique piece dated 1865.
http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2016/01/persis-woodburys-applique-table-cover.html

Well, I tried to do a rush job before I left town for Southern California where I was trapped by winter storm Kayla (it was heck, pure heck---there were flowers everywhere and smiling people wearing raincoats). I had to stay an extra day. But now I am back at my computer.

I made many errors in the rush post, the most egregious of which may be the mis-bordering of Maine.
That is New Hampshire next to Oxford County, Maine---not Vermont.

So I thought I'd do another post pointing out errors and comments....

First the comments:

Quilt attributed to Emily Wiley Munroe of Lynnfield, Massachusetts, 1865.
Collection of the New England Quilt Museum.

Laura noticed the similarity between the wool Bradbury piece and the Emily Munroe quilt.
The comparisons go beyond the date (1865) the fabrics (wool and cotton) and the style (pictorial applique with embroidery.)

Quiltmakers seem to be using the same patterns.

See another comparison at the top of the page here.

Read an interview with quilt historian Lynne Bassett about the Munroe quilt here:

Errors:
I mispelt her name as Persis Woodbury rather than Bradbury in the post headline so it is forever wrong in the ether.

And I had the wrong Henry Bradbury and thus the wrong wife. Suzanne emails me:
"Henry A M Bradbury (a carpenter a/k/a joiner) did not serve in the 23rd ME Inf. That was Henry N Bradbury married to Elizabeth. Persis' husband enlisted in the 32nd ME Inf in 1864 and was transferred to the 31st ME Inf in 1864 and discharged for disability in 1865. The nature of Henry's disability can be found in his pension file, he qualified for the pension in 1865, unusually early, and died in 1903.
In the 1900 and 1910 censuses, there is a column asking the wife to state how many children she bore and how many were alive on the census date. Persis reports having 9 children with 4 alive on the census date. In 1910 she is living with daughter Nina and her family, husband Henry is dead, and she consistently reports having 9 children with 4 alive on the census date.
According to pension index cards, Persis out lived him as she had a successful claim as his widow. However, mysteriously, she is not living with him in the 1900 census. Henry is living with his brother in law and is reported as still married 45 years. Persis is living with her widowed "son", a 35 year old supposedly named Henry B Esmond. Either his name was Henry Esmond Bailey or he was a grandson or son in law, not a son.
According to VA pension payment records, Persis died October 13, 1915, 12 years after Henry."



Aside from the factual confusions over the makers and their geography---I'm always fascinated to see similar quilts. Still have no answers to why the patterns are so close.

5 comments:

Jeanne said...

Hehe, California can do that to you!

Barbara Goetz said...

Could the similarity have come from using a purchased pattern of some type?

Kimberly Smith said...

Teeheehee...I'm kind of tickled to see that even my quilty heroes are human, and humble. And that your readers are sharp too, and also a valuable resource. Your blogs are like a quilt university, imo.

Vic in NH said...

Thanks for the updates and we love you anyway!

Wendy Caton Reed said...

Well, if anyone is to be wearing the dunce cap it should be a Maine native (who shall remain nameless, but whose sister now lives in Oxford County) who did not even notice your "slight" error. I agree with Laura that it does remind me of the Emily Monroe quilt. Those types of wool appliqued and embroidered quilts were very popular in Maine in the 19th century, but these do have striking similarities. Hmmm...