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Henrietta Salara Baker, Plaistow, New Hampshire, 1823
Henrietta Salara Baker was born June 15, 1810 in Plaistow, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. Plaistow is a small town on the Massachusetts border, about five miles north of Haverhill, Mass. Henrietta's father, Gideon Baker, was of Grafton, Vermont, and moved to Plaistow, and wed Sarah Kelly in 1802. Henrietta was the oldest of three; she had two brothers, Cornelius and John. While in Plaistow, Miss Baker worked this lovely family record, which lists the births of her parents, Henrietta and her brothers. Stitched in black silk, the information is bold when paired with the pale blue and ivory thread used in creating borders and motifs. Thin vines encircle the parents' and each individual child's bit of history. Baskets of flowers flank John Kelly Baker's cartouche, and Henrietta stitched her inscription underneath. A fine sawtooth border frames the record, with a grander floral border encompassing that. Large geometric flowers stand on all four sides of the undulating vine, while freeform, folkier sprigs were composed in each corner. Later in life, in 1831, Henrietta married John Peabody, a trader, and removed to Boxford, Massachusetts. Together they had nine children, and records indicate that in 1860 they were still residing with three of the youngest. The sampler was passed down through the Peabody family for generations, and a letter by Henrietta's great-granddaughter accompanies the piece. Worked in silk on linen this sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a beveled grain-painted frame. |
