Elma M. Tripp, Washington, Dutchess County, New York, 1830
Price: $3800, Sampler size: 16½" x 17"

Elma Maria Tripp was born in 1816, the second of the seven children of a farmer, Howard Tripp (1787-1884) and his wife, Phebe (Butts) Tripp (1782-1866). This sampler shows strong influence from the Quaker teaching in this area, specifically from the Nine Partners School which was located in the very nearby village of Mechanic. In 1830 Elma worked this unusual sampler which she entitled, "Written on the blank leaf of a lady's Bible." Comprised of four stanzas, which are numbered as such, this verse has been found on only one other sampler, which was made at Nine Partners School in 1827. This source was likely truly found on the blank leaf of a lady's Bible and is known to have been incorporated in copy books and other written schoolgirl material at Nine Partners. The samplermaker of the other known sampler with this verse records that she made it at Nine Partners School in her inscription, solidifying the link between our sampler and the school. The tiny, precisely formed letters and numerals worked in black and deep brown threads are classically Quaker in font. In addition to the lengthy verse, Elma worked six Quaker motifs. It is all surrounded by a tight border of flowers and leaves.

Elma married George Burton Kinney in 1830, a successful and wealthy farmer from Stanford, a nearby town. They became the parents of three children, Elma, Howard and George. The family continued to live in Stanford and Elma died in 1867.

The sampler is in very good condition with some slight darkening to the linen and very minor weakness. It has been conservation mounted and is in a black molded and painted frame.