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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sisters' Samplers: Susan Dysart and Clinton Dysart

(left) Susan Denny Dysart, with her husband Robert S. Montgomery
(right) Esther Elizabeth Clinton Dysart

The Dysart sisters of Palmetto, Marshall Co., produced three samplers between them. Susan Denny Dysart (1831-1881), the elder, worked a remarkable piece in 1847, at the age of 16. The large building motif on Susan's sampler may be Solomon's Temple. It is also found on Minerva Ann Elam's sampler of 1831 (TSS 004). Susan's first sampler, like her second and like her sister's, is still in the original frame. The initials A.R.E. are worked at the end of her row of numbers; perhaps they indicate her teacher.

1847 Susan Denny Dysart
Palmetto, Marshall Co.
silk and wool on 24 ct. learning canvas
25 1⁄4"V x 23 1⁄4"H © TSS 170


Susan's second sampler of 1851 is smaller and less complex. Worked on an unusual blue-gray perforated paper, the motto, border, and motifs features cross, cross over one, half-cross, rice, and satin stitches.

1851 Susan Denny Dysart
Palmetto, Marshall Co.
silk and wool on 20 ct. perforated paper
9 1⁄4"V x 11 1⁄4"H © TSS 170


Esther Elizabeth Clinton Dysart (1836-1878), known as Clinton, also finished a sampler in 1851. The two sisters probably worked their samplers together, sharing materials and motifs. Clinton suffered from epilepsy and Susan cared for her younger sister until Clinton's death. According to the family, Clinton had a seizure, fell into the fireplace, and later died from her injuries.

1851 Esther Elizabeth Clinton Dysart
silk and wool on 24 ct. wool/cotton blend
Palmetto, Marshall Co.
21 1⁄2"V x 23 1⁄4"H © TSS 17
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8 comments:

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

What beautiful samplers and such a tragic story. I am always so excited to see a post from you!

taylors*farmhouse*attic said...

What a treat to see you had a new post!..I'm from Tennessee and love any history from my home state...

Jennifer said...

Thanks for the comments. I am trying to blog more often. I have enough stories to share--it's just making the time to write them up and format the images!

I have two more sets of sisters and a mother-daughter pairing I'd like to write about.

trillium said...

Are these Dysarts related to the Ohio Dysarts from whom the Ohio University's Dysart Woods nature preserve takes its name?

Jennifer said...

Trillium, I'm sorry I didn't respond to your question sooner. I just saw your comment today. I am not certain if there is a connection to any Ohio Dysarts. This family was in TN fairly early. My colleague, Janet, is the genealogist, and I will let her know that there may be an OH branch of the family. We normally only document the stitchers' parents, husbands, and children, since we are currently researching over 200 young women and any more exploration would mean our work would never be done!

Teresa Clark said...

Thank you so much for sharing this. I am a distant relative of the Dysart's and I didn't have any knowledge of this. I immediately added it to my genealogy.

Teresa

Jennifer said...

Teresa, I'm glad that you made the connection to your family history!

the striped rose said...

I absolutely love the first and third samplers on this post. I love those birds!