Mary C. Newcomb

A handsome and beautifully made sampler, this was worked in Haverhill, Massachusetts by Mary C. Newcomb, at age 10 (“in the 11th year of her age”). The samplermaking tradition of Haverhill, north of Boston, had been firmly in place for many decades at that point, with characteristic compositions that Mary’s sampler displays - splendid three-sided borders with broad leafy vines and flowers and a lawn forming the bottom of the sampler, embellished with flowering plants and a pair of willow trees bending towards center. In this case, the lawn is a precise saw-tooth design and is continued in pale blue on the sides and top. 

Mary C. Newcomb was born to Capt. Jesse Smith and Sally (Atwood) Newcomb, the third of their twelve children. The family lived in Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Massachusetts for many years. Information is published in Genealogical Memoir of the Newcomb Family … from 1635 to 1874, by John Bearse Newcomb (Chicago, 1874); and Capt. Newcomb is noted to have “followed the sea for many years as a master mariner.” His mother, Sarah Hopkins (1754-1818), is said to have been a descendant of Stephen Hopkins who came to America on the Mayflower.

Capt. Newcomb and his wife, along with their two very young children, removed to Haverhill about 1820, where Mary was born on April 1, 1822. On May 1, 1838, at age 17, Mary married Levi Young, Jr., and the couple remained in Haverhill where they had five children, Hannah, Mary, Osgood, Sarah and Lizzie. Levi, for some years, was a shoemaker, sharing that trade with many Haverhill residents, including at least three of Mary’s brothers. Mary died in 1891 and is buried in Linwood Cemetery in Haverhill along with many family members. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted. It is in a maple frame with a cherry bead.

photo of reverse