The sampler has an interesting central vase of flowers (or nosegay) and below this are the verses and signature:
Thou cants not steal the roses bloom
To decorate thy face
But the sweet blush of modesty.
Will lend an equal grace

Sickness will change the roserate hue
Which slowing health bespeak
And age will (w)rinkle with its cares
The smile on becautys cheeks

Wrought by Adaline D Shelburn under the Tuition of R A Kerrick

Beneath the signature line is an incompletely finished, symmetric vine and flower arrangement with the date “1837” seen centrally. A circumferential vine and flower border surrounds all the above, with a simple stitch border surrounding the vine and flowers. Finally, at the most peripheral aspect of the sampler is a nearly complete alphabet row on the left, a complete alphabet row on the right, and a complete alphabet row spanning the top and bottom. This usage of an “alphabet border” is in general unusual on samplers, and unique on documented Kentucky samplers.

The first verse is Verse 1 of 9, and the second verse is Verse 8 of 9, of an unsigned poem found in the Introduction to the English Reader: Or, A Selection of Pieces in Prose and Poetry…By Lindley Murray (compiler), New York, 1814 & 1831. In conjunction with information found in Selection of Poems ... Vol 2/2, 1806, “TO A YOUNG LADY, WITH A NOSEGAY.” by Charles Snart (compiler), AKS believes the poem was probably written by the 16th century poet, John Donne, aka “Dr. Donne”. A “nosegay” is a small bunch of flowers, typically one that is sweet-scented. The verse selection presumably correlates to the central motif, a vase of flowers or…a nosegay.

The instructress R. A. Kerrick (1809-?), new to the AKS teacher database, is thought to be Rosannah A. Coomes Kerrick, who in the 1850 census was forty-one years old and living in Taylorsville, Spencer County, Kentucky. She was married to a farmer, Sebert Benedict Kerrick (1804-?), in Bardstown, Nelson, Kentucky, February 18, 1832, prior to Adaline’s sampler being made in 1837. Rosannah and Sebert had several children and records list no occupation for Rosannah other than “Keeping House”. Rosannah would have been twenty-eight years old when she instructed the fifteen year old Adaline.

Adaline D. Shelburn was born on July 22, 1822, to Robinson Willis Shelbourne (1786-1822), and Amelia “Amy” Frances Rodman (1790-1879), in Taylorsville, Spencer County, Kentucky where her father died, almost exactly two months later on September 24, 1822. Alternate spelling of her given name (Adeline) as well as her and other family members’ surname including Shelbourne and Shelburne are noted. Her siblings included Fannie Maria (1810- ~1870), Monroe/Moreau Thomas (1811-1873), Robinson Willis Jr (1812-?), Eliza Ann (1814-1893), Martha Miller (1817-1881), Emeline (1818-?), and Pascal Ransom (1820-1880).

Adaline married James A. Scott (1816-1868), a tanner, on August 30, 1838 in Washington Township, Washington County, Indiana. Their children included Mary Jane “Jennie” (1841-1902), Amelia F. (1844-1850), Lucy A. (1849-1860), and Walter E. (1859-?). The 1850 census shows they lived in Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky, while the 1860 and 1870 census show they lived in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky and Adaline is listed as a “Domestic Lady”. James died in Owensboro on February 19, 1868. The 1880 census shows Adaline lived on Chestnut Street in Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky and by 1883 she lived at 610 E Broadway in Louisville per the 1883 Louisville City Directory.

Adaline D. Shelburn Scott, age sixty-one, died of “cancer of the stomach” on January 9, 1884, in Louisville, Kentucky per the July 1884 Louisville, Kentucky death records. She and James are buried at Cave Hill Cemetery, in Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky. (See the ancillary images.)