Sampler
Maker's Name
Milliken, Nettie
Location
Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky
Date Made
1867
Maker's Age
11 years old, born March 3, 1856
Dimensions
16 ½ x 19 ⅛ inches
Medium
Cotton on canvas with cross and four-sided stitches
Provenance
Made by Nancy Henrietta (Nettie) Milliken in 1867. Sold by Neverbird Antiques, Surry, VA to Private Collector #22.
Description
A marking sampler with eight rows of alphabets and limited numbers separated by decorative bands over the signature line:
Nettie Millken Paducah
St. Mary's Academy Apr 1867
Paducah, Kentucky was founded in 1827 by William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) because of its potential as a transportation hub. He chose the site at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, which is also proximate to the Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers. In downtown Paducah sits a Catholic High School named St. Mary’s. The school, which opened in 185x as St. Mary’s Academy, served as a Union military hospital following the Battles of Shiloh in 1862 and Paducah in 1864. The town suffered greatly during the war years with its Confederate sympathies but its Union military occupation. Education in post Civil War Paducah had become much more academic. Nettie’s sampler, however, proves the sampler making tradition had not yet completely vanished. By this date, however, needlework was hardly more than an extra curricular activity. It echoes traditional sampler format and the sampler technique remains completely hand made.
Nancy Henrietta (Nettie) Milliken was born in Paducah on March 5, 1856. She was the first of eight children of riverboat pilot Ulysses Milliken (1831-1870) and his wife Mary Amanda McClure (1834-TBD). Father Ulysses followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Steven Ramsey Milliken, who captained riverboats on the Mississippi, Tennessee & Ohio Rivers from 1832 to 1859. (Steven retired to Texas prior to the Civil War.)
Nettie relocated with her family for safety reasons during the Civil War from Paducah to St. Louis in 1862, shortly after arrival of Union troops. The family remained in St. Louis after the war, but eleven year old Nettie returned to Paducah in 1867 to continue her education at the school. Nettie subsequently removed to Texas where she married attorney James Graham (1846-1932) on October 19, 1876 in Alvarado, Texas. The couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee where James practiced law. Nettie and James had eight children, staying in Nashville until 1930, when they retired to Miami, Florida. James died there in 1932 and Nettie the following year on April 24, 1933.
Nettie Millken Paducah
St. Mary's Academy Apr 1867
Paducah, Kentucky was founded in 1827 by William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) because of its potential as a transportation hub. He chose the site at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, which is also proximate to the Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers. In downtown Paducah sits a Catholic High School named St. Mary’s. The school, which opened in 185x as St. Mary’s Academy, served as a Union military hospital following the Battles of Shiloh in 1862 and Paducah in 1864. The town suffered greatly during the war years with its Confederate sympathies but its Union military occupation. Education in post Civil War Paducah had become much more academic. Nettie’s sampler, however, proves the sampler making tradition had not yet completely vanished. By this date, however, needlework was hardly more than an extra curricular activity. It echoes traditional sampler format and the sampler technique remains completely hand made.
Nancy Henrietta (Nettie) Milliken was born in Paducah on March 5, 1856. She was the first of eight children of riverboat pilot Ulysses Milliken (1831-1870) and his wife Mary Amanda McClure (1834-TBD). Father Ulysses followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Steven Ramsey Milliken, who captained riverboats on the Mississippi, Tennessee & Ohio Rivers from 1832 to 1859. (Steven retired to Texas prior to the Civil War.)
Nettie relocated with her family for safety reasons during the Civil War from Paducah to St. Louis in 1862, shortly after arrival of Union troops. The family remained in St. Louis after the war, but eleven year old Nettie returned to Paducah in 1867 to continue her education at the school. Nettie subsequently removed to Texas where she married attorney James Graham (1846-1932) on October 19, 1876 in Alvarado, Texas. The couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee where James practiced law. Nettie and James had eight children, staying in Nashville until 1930, when they retired to Miami, Florida. James died there in 1932 and Nettie the following year on April 24, 1933.
Owner/History of Owner/Credit Line
Private Collector #22
AKS Catalog Number
2019-044
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