Quilt

Object Name:

Quilt

Object ID:

2016.034

Place of Origin:

Manchester, NH

Date:

circa 1854

Description:

Presentation quilt. Made for Laura Lucinda Gilson Crooker (1825-1861) of Manchester, NH, on her marriage to Jacob E. Prescott, January 1, 1855. Block and cross patchwork pattern (Old Italian Block). Handstitched, cotton with cotton batting, and white cotton backing. Diagonal bands of machine-printed orange cotton fabric with small brown flowers. Center of each cross and block inscribed with ink signature on white cotton; 41 signatures total. Cut corners. Remnants of letters "SG" embroidered and written in ink on cotton backing; from earlier textiles owned by Laura's mother, Sally Gilson.

Material:

Textile
Cotton

Dimensions:

W-86 L-93 inches

Provenance:

This quilt was made by friends and family of Laura Lucinda (Gilson) Crooker (1825-1861) of Manchester, NH. She was the daughter of John and Sally (Wood) Gilson. Born in Merrimack, NH, she moved with her family to Hancock and Nashua, where her father operated a wool-carding and cloth dressing business. Laura married Simeon W. Crooker of Boston in 1845. He died in 1846 and she went to live with her sister in Nashua. She later moved to Manchester, where she met and married Jacob E. Prescott. They moved to West Epping after their marriage, where they farmed and operated a woolen mill. The quilt descended through their eldest son Willis Clement Prescott to Jean D. Mullavey (1925-2012), the great-granddaughter of Laura Lucinda Gilson Crooker Prescott and late wife of the donor, Richard E. Mullavey, formerly a New Hampshire Historical Society docent.

Credit Line:

Gift of Richard E. Mullavey, in memory of Florence Prescott Davis

People:

Crooker, Laura Lucinda Gilson (1825-1861)

Subjects:

Quilts, Quilting