Rebecca Pew Sterett completed her band sampler in October, 1819. At the top, there are several mildly decorative crossbands followed by nearly five rows of alphabets and numbers. Beginning in the middle of the fifth row, she embroidered: Rebecca Pew
Sterett is my nam
e and with my nee
dle I wrought the
same, October the
5th 1819 in the 14th
year of my age
Miss Eliza Blain
was my teacher. BS
JS, SS, WS, MS, GS, ES and MS.

Each row is separated by simple crossbands.

Rebeccca was born on December 3, 1805 in Breckinridge County, Kentucky to John Hart Sterett and Sarah “Sallie” Johnston DeHaven.
The initials on the sampler are of those of her family: BS (brother, Baird, 1819-1885), JS (father, John B., 1779-1861), SS (mother, Sarah “Sallie” (1781-1843), WS (brother William Green, 1803-1872), MS (sister Martha B., 1808-1834), GS (brother Green B., 1811-1894), ES (Eliza, 1813-1895), and MS (sister Margaret,1816-1889). Other siblings not listed on the sampler include Rachel (1805-?) who may have died near birth, and Beard (1819-1885), perhaps born after completion of the sampler.

Rebecca married Charles V. Lander (1798-1835) in approximately 1824 in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Their children included: John (1825-1854), Nathaniel (1827-1832), Franklin (1829-1917), Eliza (1832-1917), and Samuel McClarty (1834-1835).

Rebecca Pew Sterett died on Nov. 17, 1886 in Hawesville, Hancock County, Kentucky. She is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. (See ancillary images.)

Eliza Blain is a previously unrecorded teacher. Blains were present in Breckinridge County, Kentucky in the 1810-1820 time period per 1810 and 1820 census records.