Even when a sampler is stitched with a name and a date, we still so often have no idea who the girl was who made it. A common note in online museum collections about the maker of a given sampler is “Nothing is known about the life of...” All we know is that, centuries ago, a girl sat down—willingly or unwillingly—and made this thing requiring focus and precision, and it might have been the only time in her life when she named herself in her own hand.

Across socioeconomic lines, from charity schoolgirls demonstrating their employable skills to daughters of wealthy families signaling their refinement, most girls made samplers in the early centuries of the country. Many of them survive because they were valued items, often framed and hung in the house.

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In the 1970s, the National Archives photographed millions of archival documents from families who had applied for pensions based on service during the Revolutionary War. In a few cases, researchers were surprised to discover samplers tucked between the handwritten depositions and affidavits. Because documentation could be difficult to come by, families would occasionally produce unofficial records, including samplers, as proof of identity, which the government accepted.  

This sampler by Martha Earl was such a document. It is a beginner's piece of work, likely made when she was about six years old, around 1787. Many samplers include verses concerning death, and Martha’s poignant text demonstrates an awareness, even at her young age, that life is fleeting:

Martha Earl is my/ name Hackensack is/ my station Heaven/ is my dwelling [place]/ And Christ is my [sal/v]ation When I [am]/ dead and in my grav/ - e and all my bones/ are rotten For/ this you sea remem/ber me That I are/ not forgottin/ She was born August/ 1 AD 1781 ABCDEFGHI

Links:

• Jennifer Davis Heaps, “‘Remember Me’: Six Samplers in the National Archives,” National Archives Prologue magazine, Fall 2002

• National Archives file for Elizabeth Earl's pension request

• 2026 National Park Service and National Archives project to transcribe the 1970s microfilm of Revolutionary War pensioners' records

• Valerie J. Davis, "The ABCs of Schoolgirl Samplers: Girls' Education and Needlework From a Bygone Era," Milwaukee Public Museum (undated)

• Michelle Galler, “Samplers: The Artwork of Children,” The Georgetowner, July 11, 2018.

  
  

This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. 250 words on 250 works, from January 1 to December 31, 2026.

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