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2008

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Family Register Sampler (USA)

This is a Family register sampler. It was embroidered by Alicia Lawrence. It is dated 1798 and we acquired it in 2008. Its medium is silk embroidery on linen foundation and its technique is embroidered in cross stitch on plain weave foundation. It is a part of the Textiles department.


Family register samplers were a way of documenting and preserving family histories. They were frequently made by schoolgirls as part of the later phase of their needlework education. This example was worked by twelve-year-old Alicia Lawrence (1787–1866) of Hartford, Connecticut. It documents the 1782 marriage of her parents, along with the births of her three siblings, Sally [Sarah] (1784–1866), William Henry (1789–1792), and Roderick (b. 1791). Also included is the death date of Alicia’s brother William Henry, who died at the age of three.


Alicia Lawrence was the daughter of Alice Lawrence (1757–1845, née Alice Adams), who was the stepsister of Connecticut school teacher turned Revolutionary War hero, Captain Nathan Hale. According to accounts by Alice’s descendants and several early Hale biographers, Alice and Nathan were themselves in love but were forbidden to marry. Her descendants claim that they eventually became engaged in 1775, after the death of Alice’s first husband, Elijah Ripley. No documentary evidence of a romantic relationship between the two exists, however, and the love affair has been dismissed by later biographers as family legend. Whether or not there is any truth to the story of Alice and Nathan’s engagement, a wedding between them never took place. While on a mission for General George Washington in New York, Nathan Hale was captured and executed by the British as a spy on September 22, 1776. In 1782, Alice married William Lawrence (1751–1821), by whom she bore the four children named on her daughter’s sampler.


In 1812, Alicia married Hartford merchant Charles Sheldon (1787–1855). Alicia’s father, William, was also a merchant, and it is possible that Charles worked as his apprentice. An 1810 advertisement in the American Mercury announces that Charles had "taken the store formerly occupied by William Lawrence." According to the Charles Sheldon family bible, Charles and Alicia had ten children: Alicia (1813–1900), Elizabeth Bellamy (b. 1815), Jane (b. 1816), Sarah (1818), Charles Henry (1820–1873), William Lawrence (1823–1843), Edward (1825–1886), Catharine (1827–1840), George (1829–1830), and Henry Lawrence (b. 1831).

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Family Registers and Family Legends.

This object was donated by William H. Mathers and Myra Mathers. It is credited Gift of Myra M. and William H. Mathers.

Its dimensions are

Frame H x W x D: 47.6 x 48.9 cm (18 3/4 x 19 1/4 in.) Warp x Weft (unframed): 41.9 x 41.9 cm (16 1/2 x 16 1/2 in.)

It is inscribed

Alicia Lawrence's Work Wrought in the 12th year of her age 1798

Cite this object as

Family Register Sampler (USA); Embroidered by Alicia Lawrence (American, 1787 - 1866); silk embroidery on linen foundation; Frame H x W x D: 47.6 x 48.9 cm (18 3/4 x 19 1/4 in.) Warp x Weft (unframed): 41.9 x 41.9 cm (16 1/2 x 16 1/2 in.); Gift of Myra M. and William H. Mathers; 2008-31-14-a,b

We have 1 video that features Family Register Sampler (USA).

Design Behind the Scenes: Textile Storage

See how textiles are stored at Cooper Hewitt in carefully designed archival containers.

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18727659/ |title=Family Register Sampler (USA) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=5 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>