The sampler is composed of five rows of alphabets, one row of numerals, a house, flowers, and unusual and partially incomplete emblems and symbols in its bottom one third. The popularity of Berlin wool work may account for the usage of the brightly colored Berlin wool/yarn which remains vibrant today. There is an incomplete border. The sampler is unframed and is sewn to a cotton backing.
Signed:
Mary Calvert. Aged twelve Years.

Mary Calvert was the daughter of Thomas Chalmers Calvert ( b 2/21/1826, d 5/19/1898) and Margaret Younglove Calvert (b 01/31/1828, d 2/11/1920) and the sister of Lida Calvert Obenchain, (b ~1856, d ?) who was the author of "Aunt Jane of Kentucky". Her sister Josephine Calvert (b 1864, d ?) kept a diary that was used in researching the Kentucky Museum's "Growing Up Victorian" exhibit. Numerous letters, papers and documents from the Calvert-Obenchain-Younglove families are housed at the Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University. An undated photo of Mary is seen below in the ancillary images.
There is no history of Mary Calvert marrying and she died on November 9, 1902, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, at forty-four years old.