The sampler has five rows of numbers and alphabet and below these rows are three scriptures: Eccl(esiastes) 12.1 is on the left and Lam(entations) 3:27 and Ps(alm) 7.11 are to the right (with the initials "IEC" faintly seen right of the word "...day".

The signature line follows:
Mary Rootes first daughter of Walker and Sarah Thornton.
born Feb., 9th 1815. and finished her sampler Nov 1st 1825 (with the initials "IP{R}T" faintly seen right of 1825)

At the bottom in the lower right corner there is Pro(verb) 13:34 and "EWT born May 17 1818" (possibly an unknown younger sibling?). In the lower left corner the initials AMT and WST with birds and trees. The sampler is housed in period, slightly chipped, and possibly original frame.

Mary Rootes Thornton (McAboy) was born in Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky on February 9, 1815 to Walker Thornton (1790-1819) and Sarah Thornton (?-?). She was married to Paradise Lynn "Paradise Lost" McAboy on April 24, 1839, a Presbyterian minister in Murphysville and Washington (1836-1839), Mason County, Kentucky. He died shortly after their marriage on August 29, 1839 when two floors of stored wheat collapsed on him at the Murphysville, Kentucky flour mill. He is buried in the Washington Baptist Church Cemetery, Old Washington, Mason County, Kentucky.

Mrs. McAboy went on to work within her local Presbyterian Church and later published a book of songs (1861) and poetry, "Roseheath Poems” (1884). (See ancillary images with selected representative poems) Mrs. McAboy's talents were appreciated by her contemporaries and “Roseheath Poems” currently remains available for sale by numerous online booksellers. The 1870 census list her occupation as a florist. An undated photo of Mary Rootes Thornton McAboy is seen in the ancillary images.
Mary Rootes Thornton McAboy died in Paris, Bourbon County Kentucky in 1892, where she is buried, in the Paris Cemetery (see ancillary images).