Nineteenth Century Quilts Of St. Lawrence County - Part 3

This is the final installment of my exploration of the nineteenth century quilt exhibit. I was hooked on quilts by now and fascinated by the personal histories they gave reference to. This was another Crazy Quilt, marked 1884 and embellished with detailed embroidery, a velvet border and lace trim:

Once again, I took a closer look at the intricate hand stitching and details such as this girl, possibly the maker's daughter who wanted to be included and immortalized in this work of art:

Hand stitched moon and stars:

A horseshoe:

Clear evidence of why these were called Crazy Quilts - and why I had become so thoroughly taken with them:

Hand stitched flower, ribbons and the date, 1884:

Of all the quilts I saw that day, I found the Crazy Quilts to be the most magnificently beautiful. But I found this Redwork Embroidery Quilt to be the most touching. It was assembled and hand stitched by Margaret "Maggie" Coloton of North Russell, New York in 1893:

It was the subject matter which I liked most about this quilt, such as "Coming Through The Rye," showing old style farm tools and a crescent moon. Were the images of the maker's daughter and son?:

The family dog, named Lion. He looked like a Boston Terrier to me:

The name of her town and the date, 1893:

Probably a particularly beloved horse. All these personal family details were why I found this quilt so touching:

And the final quilt which I'll include in these posts was this one with appliqued leaves. Similar to a Crazy Quilt, this was made of dark colored silk, satin and velvet fabrics and embellished with lots of embroidery. Perhaps I should have taken a few close-ups of the leaf panels, but where would one begin?:

Nineteenth Century Quilts Of St. Lawrence County - Part 2

Surely I'd never been interested in quilts before, but I was now. So here's Part 2 of the nineteenth century quilts at the Silas Wright House, beginning with this masterpiece, made by Catherine Keys of Black Lake. It was marked February 1888, a crazy quilt:

Another "Crazy Quilt," this one marked "To Adah, Dec 25 1896, from Josie:"

A Friendship Quilt from the town of Pierrepont, around 1888. Each of the white triangles had a signature:

Another Friendship Quilt, this one thought to have been a fundraising project for the Presbyterian Church of Canton:

A closer look revealed a signature in each of the white triangles. I had trouble reading the first word in most of them, but came to realize it was usually either Miss or Mrs:

A Rail Fence Quilt, made by Roxanna Swinning of Morristown:

A Floral Wreath Applique, made by Almena Estes of Canton about 1860:

A Six-Pointed Rolling Star Quilt made in patriotic colors from the Gibson family home in West Stockholm:

A Hexagon Baby Quilt made in various tan and pink calicos, typical fabrics of the 1860s-1890:

The lighting made it difficult to photograph, but I wanted to include this one. It was called "Grandmother's Flower Garden" and was hand stitched by either Beatrice Soule McVey or her mother, Emma Clousen Soule of Richville:

And here's a close-up, showing the intricacy of the pattern and the hand stitching. I was continually amazed by the time and effort involved in these quilts. And once again, it was easy to see why they were kept as family heirlooms for over a hundred years:

A Double Irish Chain Quilt from the Gibson family home in West Stockholm. But now that I had become such an admirer of these nineteenth century quilts, I was having a ball examining them and reading the attached descriptions. And there were still more to photograph and present to you, so I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

Nineteenth Century Quilts Of St. Lawrence County - Part 1

There was an entire floor of the museum's Silas Wright house devoted to nineteenth century quilts. I'd never known anything about quilts but figured I'd go take a look. And by the way - the artist, Frederick Remington, was another noted St. Lawrence resident::


There was a wild, modern looking quilt at the top of the stairs which I later learned was not modern at all:


I entered into the quilt room and was amazed at the variety on display:


But before I looked at the quilts, I began with this redwork embroidery table runner, with stitched designs of chicks and boating frogs:

And another redwork embroidery table runner with a farm design. My own mother did some similar embroidery, so I found it fascinating to see some early works:

A mariner's compass quilt, made by Almena Estes of Canton about 1860:

This modern looking quilt was called a crazy quilt and was a smaller size, known as a lap or throw quilt:

This was where I became fascinated with the quilts. I began looking closely at the intricate work involved and the bits of personal lives illustrated in the artwork. This section showed someone's crabby cat and an oak leaf:

Owls and flowers and tiny, intricate stitches. I found it fascinating that so much time and effort had gone into the creation of this quilt. It's no wonder they were family heirlooms, kept for over a hundred years:

A horseshoe and four-leafed clover. And just look at all that minute stitching, all done by hand. Well, I hadn't previously thought I had much interest in quilts but I was totally sold on them by now and still there were more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

John Henry Rushton Canoes

Part of the museum attached to the Silas Wright House was an exhibit of the legendary canoe building skills of John Henry Rushton, born in 1843. A small man of 98 pounds, he set up Dragonfly Canoe Works in Canton in 1875. His canoes and other small boats achieved world renown, even being called the "Stradivarius of canoes:"

I was able to see this canoe up close, so I walked over to inspect it:

I was surprised to see that it was constructed largely of what looked to me like clapboards fitted ever so tightly together:

And when I looked at the underside, I saw the boards were hand nailed with what must surely have been thousands of nails:

I believe that this Rushton creation was called a Rob Roy decked canoe:

A photo of George Washington Sears, who wrote about his adventures and travels in "Forest And Stream" under the name of Nessmuk. Rushton built a series of canoes for him and, in turn, earned acclaim as a master builder:

Rushton's son, Harry, outside their boat shop in Canton. The canoe was a model called "Indian Girl" which became very popular:

The employees of the Rushton Boat Shop in 1904. Rushton died in 1906:

The man himself, in 1884:

At a camp on Cranberry Lake about 1891. The two young boys were Rushton's sons:

Another shot of Carter's Camp on Cranberry Lake, with John Henry Rushton, his wife and two sons:

The Rushton St. Lawrence Canoe Club in 1886, on an island in the St. Lawrence River. This was all a part of the past about which I'd known nothing, and it was nice to learn a bit of St. Lawrence history:

St. Lawrence County Historical Society, Part 2

I was touring the Silas Wright house (see also Part 1, posted yesterday), and took a closer look at the fireplace. The dutch oven, according to the brochure, was then called a "beehive" oven. The wallpaper, while not original, was in the oriental style which was popular at the time:

This looked to me like a bedroom dresser, but if I read the brochure correctly, it was a "butler's desk," a place for the servants to keep documents and records of the house:

From the dining room, I proceeded into the study, where Silas Wright spent much time writing letters and conducting political business while at home. I thought the top hat was a nice touch:

Also in the study were other comfortable furnishings, including the sofa, which did indeed belong to the Wrights:

These law books and Assembly records once belonged to Silas Wright:

The Silas Wright house had spacious double parlors, places to entertain and conduct the formal affairs of a Senator and Governor:

The piano in the rear parlor was manufactured by the Badlam Piano Works of nearby Ogdensburg about 1850:

Reflected in the mirror was an oil painting which, I read, was originally thought to be a portrait of Clarissa Wright (Silas' bride) in her wedding bonnet. Alas, later research indicated that it is more likely to be Clarissa's sister-in-law, Susan Brown Moody:

This portrait was of Silas Wright Jr:

The brochure informed me that the center table belonged to the Wrights. The pair of card/gaming tables were brought into St. Lawrence County in 1825, although they didn't belong to the Wrights:

The entrance hallway had framed lithographs of George and Martha Washington and a hand painted floor cloth:

This photo gives you an idea of how the double parlors were connected and the comfortable, albeit formal, feelings they evoked. This was the end of my tour of the living area of the Silas Wright house. But there was more to see at the museum, so tune in tomorrow for another post: