Towel, Hand

Object Name:

Towel, Hand

Object ID:

2018.042.01

Place of Origin:

Ossipee, NH

Date:

circa 1824

Description:

Towel. Made by Mary Young Mathews (1807-1870) of Ossipee, NH, c. 1824. Hand-woven linen, natural cream color. Diamond pattern. Hemmed on two edges. Selvedge on other two edges. Cotton twill loop sewn at center of top edge. Accompanied by tablecloth (2018.042.02). Typescript paper label stitched to towel: "TABLECLOTH AND HANDTOWEL MADE BY MARY YOUNG / MATTHEWS WHO WAS BORN MARCH 25, 1807 AND MARRIED / JOHN MATTHEWS JR. MARCH 4, 1824. AT THE TIME / OF HER MARRIAGE SHE LIVED IN OSSIPEE, N.H. MRS. / MATTHEWS SPUN THE FLAX AND WOVE THE CLOTH ON A / HANDLOOM, CREATING HER OWN PATTERN OF DESIGN."

Material:

Textile
Linen

Dimensions:

W-16.5 L-36 inches

Provenance:

The towel and tablecloth were made by Mary Young Mathews (1807-1870) of Ossipee, NH, about the time her marriage to Col. John Mathews (1800-1876) in 1824. They were part of the extended Mathews, Young, and Randall families that moved to Ossipee and Wakefield from Lee during the first decade of the 19th century. The Mathews were farmers and lumbermen in the area before moving to Kittery, ME, sometime after 1860. Descendants of the family were late 19th-century pioneer settlers of Montana. The gift was forwarded to the Society by the Montana Historical Society because of the objects' New Hampshire histories. Mary Young Mathews was the great-great grandmother of the donor.

Credit Line:

Gift of Douglass Purcell

People:

Mathews, Mary Young (1807-1870)

Subjects:

Linen, Towels