Hannah E. White,

Signed, “Wrought by Miss Hannah E. White in the 13th year of her age, Southampton, May AD 1807,” this is a very fine sampler, indicating great skill on the part of Miss White with the extensive use of the queen’s-stitch. The two corner blocks along the bottom and the entire zigzag border were worked in this stitch, which is both demanding and time-consuming.

We also love and agree with the couplet that she included, “When books and work engage our early days  / Our feet will seldom stray from wisdom’s ways.”

Hannah was most likely from Southampton, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York and perhaps the daughter of Ephraim (1762-1838) and Hannah (Sayre) White (1764-1857). The Early History of Southampton, L.I., New York, With Genealogies by George Rogers Howell (New York, 1866) documents the White family that came to Southampton circa 1644. Hannah‘s sampler resembles one that we had owned years ago from this same area.

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a molded and black painted frame.