Needlework, Family Record
- Object Name:
- Needlework, Family Record
- Object ID:
- 2025.006
- Creator:
- Riddle, Martha Ann (1832-1897) -- Dressmaker
- Date:
- 1848
- Description:
- Family Record. Needlework family record for the Riddle family, embroidered by Martha Riddle, 1848. Bordered by a floral wreath, the family register records the names, life dates, and wedding date of John D. Riddle and Sally Gilmore, and the names and life dates of their six children.
- Material:
- Cloth
- Dimensions:
- H-17.5 W-16.5 inches
- Provenance:
- John Dunlap Riddle was the grandson of Major John Dunlap and Martha Dunlap of Bedford. John and Martha had a daughter, Mary Dunlap (1772-1852), who married David Riddle (1757-1839) in 1798. The couple had five children, including John Dunlap Riddle (1802-1876). John married Sarah (Sally) Gilmore (1805-1852) on May 12, 1831. John was a farmer in Bedford, and lived in a house erected by his father. The couple had six children, the eldest of whom was Martha Ann Riddle (1832-1897). In the 1850 U.S. Census the eighteen-year-old Martha is living away from her family, at a boarding school for girls in Charlestown, Massachusetts, run by Adolpha Rugg (1812-1862). After Sally Riddle's death in 1852, John married her sister Mary Ann Gilmore (1808-1883) two years later, but they did not have children.
John D. Riddle and his family moved to Manchester in 1868. In the 1870 U.S. Census, Martha (age 33) is now the head of the household and a dressmaker. Her father John (68) is a laborer, step-mother Mary (60) is keeping house, while sisters Mary (30) and Sarah (26) are also listed as dressmakers. In the 1880 census Martha is still living with her widowed mother-in-law Mary and sister Mary, with the sisters both listed as dressmakers. So it's clear that Martha's sewing skills demonstrated first in this 1848 family record became key to her career. She never married, and died in Manchester at the age of 64 in 1897. - Credit Line:
- Gift of William W. Upton
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