Congratulations!

Congratulations to Susan Houston, who won a blue ribbon in the sampler category and a very impressive purple best-in-show ribbon at the Williamson (TN) County Fair for her Middle Tennessee sampler!

Tennessee Sampler Survey: New Web Site!

Please visit our new web site! We are pleased to present the results of our research in an online gallery. Check out the new sections devoted to products and education. Special thanks to our talented and patient web designer, Justin Bird, who took our ideas and realized them in a digital form. This web site revision was funded by grants from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Loudon (VA) Sampler Guild.

Late 19th Century and Civil War Era Samplers

1860 Harriet Higgin
McNairy Co.?
23"V x 22"H © TSS 215
silk and wool on 24 ct. cotton

Despite the strains of the Civil War, Tennessee girls did not put down their needles. Needlework trends changed; Berlin work became popular throughout Northwestern Europe and the New World. Tennessee girls adapted by working Berlin motifs into traditional sampler patterns.

Harriet Higgin may have lived in Polk County or McNairy County. The style and materials of this sampler point toward a West Tennessee origin (McNairy County) rather than an East Tennessee origin (Polk County).

The latest (or youngest) sampler that we have found is dated 1883, showing that Tennessee girls continued to work samplers throughout the 19th Century.


1883 Eliza Lay
Scott Co.
16 1/2"V x 19 3/4"H © TSS 101
silk and wool on 28 V/36 H ct. linen

Map, Little Dog Samplers of Middle Tennessee

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Map showing the locations of the homes of the stitchers. We know of 11 Little Dog samplers, ranging in date from 1831 to c. 1853.

Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly

The spring issue of Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly is here! The cover features a reproduction of a Tennessee sampler, the 1831 Sarah Harriet Stephenson. In addition to the chart for the sampler, there is an article on the Little Dog samplers (of which this is an example).


The model was stitched on 28 ct. light sand linen from Zweigart using custom dyed silks from Olde Willow Stitchery. A materials kit is available from SANQ for $69 (plus S/H). Call (800) 547-4176 ext. 2 to order. Refer to order number K-JCS15.

Special thanks to RIndy Richards and Connie Winslett, who stitched the model, Janet Hasson who conducted the genealogical research, and the editors of SANQ for allowing TSS this opportunity.


Core, Jennifer C. "The Little Dog Samplers of Middle Tennessee." Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly, Vol. 54 (Spring 2009). pp. 5-9.

Core, Jennifer C. "1831 Sarah Harriet Stephenson Sampler (chart and instructions)." Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly, Vol. 54 (Spring 2009). pp. 10-16.

Where is the TSS Web Site?

Our web site is currently undergoing massive renovation. When it returns, visitors will be able to visit an online gallery of all documented samplers, complete with high resolution photographs and technical details. A section will be devoted to education, with pages for sampler owners and teachers.

Until the web site returns, visitors will be redirected to our blog.

Below is a sneak peak of our new home page:


Our web designer, Justin Bird, has been working hard to process all the data we have accumulated.

House Samplers of Middle Tennessee and Map

Top Left
1827 Susannah D. Smith
wool? on linen
Brentwood, Williamson Co.
dimensions unknown © TSS 115

Top Right
1831 Mildred A. F. Nelson
silk on 25 ct. linen
Rutherford Co.
15” V x 15” H © TSS 157

Bottom Left
c. 1835 Harriet Daniel Bryant
silk on 22 V/28 H ct. linen
Maury Co.?
17 ½” V x 17 ¼” H © TSS 210

Bottom Right
1836 Mary Elizabeth Collins
silk on 30 ct. linen
Franklin, Williamson Co.
16 ¾” V x 16 ¾” H © TSS 128

The 1831 Mildred A. F. Nelson sampler (TSS 157) belongs to a group of four related samplers ranging from 1827 to 1836. The four samplers 1) are all square, 2) feature houses, 3) share stitch techniques (eyelet, rice, and four-sided) 4) have the same oddly shaped trees, the same color palette, and the same alphabet. We have not yet examined the 1827 Susannah D. Smith sampler, but it appears to be worked in wool, unlike the other three, which are in silk. I am eager to document Susannah's needlework--is that really a cow grazing beside her house? Mildred included a meandering stream in her landscape. The fruit baskets on Harriet's and Mary's samplers were popular motifs in Middle Tennessee throughout the 19th c. Harriet and Mary both showed a preference for tulip borders.

We have not yet established the connection among these girls, other than their relative geographic proximity and the evidence found in the actual samplers.


View Larger Map

Photograph of the 1827 Susannah D. Smith sampler courtesy of Bob Canaday/Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County.