Williamsport- The Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society has recently acquired a needlework sampler made by Jane Morison of Pine Creek Township, Lycoming County. The sampler was made in 1826 and reveals a high proficiency in executing various stitches.
“This is an exciting acquisition for the museum. We have very few artifacts in the collection which relate to the pre-1850 history of the County, especially beyond Williamsport,” notes Museum Director Gary Parks, “It shows that Jane was instructed by a needlework teacher who was capable of teaching more advanced stitching, beyond cross-stitch.” Stitches practiced by Jane include the cross-stitch, Algerian eye, satin, split and Queen stitches. The inscription reads. “Jane Morison/ her Sampler/ wrought in th/ e fifteenth year of her age, August/ 21 AD 1826 Pine Creek Township Ly/ coming County State of Pennsylvania.” The inner reserve features two uppercase alphabets and one lowercase alphabet, as well as the numerals 1-9. It is enclosed by a strawberry border. Parks also remarked, “We do not have any Williamsport samplers and I find that really puzzling. I know of several made in Muncy and Jersey Shore, but thus far, I have not seen one made in Williamsport. We would certainly like to add Lycoming County samplers to our collection. They reflect the life and times of an under-represented portion of the population within our collection- young women.”
The sampler will soon be on display in the Fine and Decorative Arts Gallery of the museum, which is located at 858 West Fourth Street, Williamsport. The museum is open Tuesdays through Fridays, 9:30am until 4:00pm, Saturdays, 11:00am until 4:00pm and Sundays, 1:00pm-4:00 pm. For further information, please call 570.326.3326.