Phebe Horner,

This is a beautifully made sampler inscribed, “PHEBE HORNOR DAUGHTER OF WILLIAM AND EFFE WAS BORN MARCH THE 14 1798.” The pictorial composition places the sampler in a significant group called the Stepped Terrace Samplers as all of the samplers include a lawn with pine trees in a handsome stepped-up formation. The group originated in Philadelphia in the 18th century where the inscriptions also featured the first letter of each word worked in a color contrasting with the rest of the word. These features, along with the vertical format, excellent and very precise queen’s-stitch and eyelet stitch, lead us to conclude that Phebe’s teacher was likely from Philadelphia. 

A lecture recently given by sampler scholar and researcher, Kathryn Lesieur, for a program at the Schwenkfelder Heritage Center of Pennsylvania, explored this form of sampler. Kathy states that, “The stepped terrace samplers made under the direction of Mary Zeller and Salome Schneider in Philadelphia during the late 18th century express a sophisticated combination of many influences, both English and German.” Her lecture explored the earlier influences on these samplers and the later samplers they in turn influenced. Our Phebe Hornor sampler is an excellent example of this group. 

As she stated on her sampler, Phebe was the daughter of William Effe, born March 14, 1798. The Hornor family in America originated with John Hornor (1630-1689) who was born in Yorkshire and died in Burlington County, New Jersey in 1689. This Old Monmouth of Ours by William S. Horner (Freehold, NJ, 1932) states that William and Effe lived in New Egypt and Matawan, where William operated a packet sloop. Phebe was their only child. In 1838, she married Charles Hopkins and died in 1842. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a molded and black painted frame. 

photo of reverse