Polly Nichols,

An endearing, little sampler, this is signed, “Polly Nichols Sampler Wrought in The Twelveth Year Of Her Age x99.” Along with various alphabets, Polly included a charming band of fat, pendulous strawberries. Polly was born in Cohasset, a coastal town southeast of Boston. Polly’s emigrant ancestor, Thomas Nichols (1614-1696), arrived in Massachusetts in 1637 and settled in Hingham. Much information about the family is published in History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts by George Lincoln.

Polly was born April 27, 1788, the daughter of Lot and Thankful (Tower) Nichols. She married Henry Doane (1789-1870), a farmer, and they remained in Cohasset where they had four children. She died in 1859. 

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