Eleanor Ann Wildman

This praiseworthy sampler offers fine composition and excellent needlework. The border that Eleanor stitched on her sampler is composed of 50 excellent queen's-stitched strawberries all on a queen's-stitch vine. This is quite a remarkable accomplishment for a 9-year-old as this technique requires a great deal of skill. 

Eleanor Ann Wildman was born on December 14, 1816, to Enos and Jane (Hamilton) Wildman of Leesburg; her parents were married in 1815 in Loudon County. Enos Wildman (1786-1829) owned the Eagle Tavern in Leesburg, which he bought circa 1818. Legends of Loudon: An Account of the History and Homes of a Border County of Virginia's Northern Neck (Harrison Williams, 1938) published information about this tavern, stating that it was, “situated on the main street leading from Winchester to Alexandria, George Town and the City of Washington.”

In 1836, in Leesburg, Eleanor married Dr. Patrick Henry Bronaugh (1791-1849), who was the son of William and Jane (Heale) Bronaugh. He attended the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Medical School, earning his degree in 1836. They remained in Leesburg and had four children. Dr. Bronaugh died in 1849, and Eleanor died many years later, in 1899. 

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. The date, 1825, was stitched in ivory silk, just below her name and is pale but legible. It has been conservation mounted and is in a beveled figured maple frame with a cherry bead.