In the upper half of the sampler there are two rows of alphabets and numbers. The first half of the third row consists of the alphabet from “m” through “z” followed by only partially decipherable letters suggesting:
_ _Pro P_rity Mal_ .
The difficult to read fourth row appears to say:
South HamPton th Many fri

The fifth and sixth rows are alphabets, followed by the signature line which reads:
Emily H Atwood. Aged 12. (Followed by an unusual oval which may represent a repair given the uniform linen color and the change in thread count).

Two more rows of alphabets are followed by a nondescript house in the lower left aspect of the sampler with the remaining lower aspect of the sampler blank or unfinished.
All of the rows are separated by simple crossbands.

The “South Hampton” in row four is of uncertain significance. There was a neighborhood in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky in this time period called “South Hampton”. It is possible that “South Hampton” refers to a school or locale of Emily’s teacher, but this is certainly unclear at this time. Further research is necessary.

Emily H. Atwood was born in approximately 1832 in Allen County, Kentucky to Lovell Howard Atwood (1805-1859) and Mary Herndon Piper (1809-1866) (m. October 13, 1829) . Emily’s siblings included Leland (1826-1860), Asa (1828-?), Lonnie (1830-?), Ann Frances (1834-1916), Louisa (1835-1897), Matilda (1837-1931), Robert L. (1840-1862), William Lonnie (1841-1915), Thomas Letcher (1843-1936), and A. J. (1846-1860).

Emily married Daniel David Lankford (1832-?), (born in Meade County, Kentucky), a farmer, on February 10, 1853 in Hickman County, Kentucky. Their children included Irena F. (1855-?), William Alonso (1856-?), Henry Robert (1859-1932), Mary P. (1869-1948), and Letcher L. (1874-?).

Birth and census records show the family lived in Hickman County, Kentucky in 1850, across the state line in Obion County, Tennessee in 1860, and in Spring Hill, Hickman, Kentucky in 1870 and 1880.

Based on Emily’s siblings birth records, the time frame of the Emily’s migration from Allen County, Kentucky westward to Hickman County, Kentucky is unclear. In conjunction with the “South Hampton” above discussion, whether the sampler was made in Allen County, Hickman County, or potentially Daviess County, Kentucky is uncertain.

Emily H. Atwood died sometime after the 1880 census, (she was at least forty-eight years old at her passing), but the exact date and place of death could not be found by AKS.