The sampler has six rows of alphabets separated by decorative crossbands. Below the rows of alphabets and crossbands is the signature:
Worked by Nancy P Ford. Pt Retirement

Oh friend do not say
farewell,
Though we are doomed
To sever;
Tis like the sudden
Passing bell,
Of Pleasures gone
forever.

The verse above is a slightly altered rendition of the first half of the first verse of “The Farewell”, published in “The Gleaner”, [No. 7], a newspaper in Boston, Monday, June 16, 1834. Published by Joseph S. Hart, at NO. 6, Merchants’ Hall. The newspaper suggests the author is “Mary. Lancaster Republican.”

To the right of this verse is a home which does not appear to be the Ford home seen in the ancillary images. Its location and significance is uncertain. It has a green lawn in front of it and is flanked by trees to its right and left. (The Ford home seen in the photograph is present on Nancy’s sister Mary Charlotte Ford’s sampler, also cataloged in AKS. Please see the discussion of the Ford home in the Mary Charlotte Ford sampler entry.)

At the lateral and upper peripheral aspects of the sampler are interesting red and tan diamond shaped decorative motifs with adorning fronds and flowerets. The most difficult stitch to execute on a sampler is the queen stitch. Normally it is worked over four threads by four threads. Nancy exhibited her exemplary embroidery skills by working her queen stitches over eighteen threads by eighteen threads. These queen stitch areas have an unusual appearance and appear to reflect light differently when viewed at different angles. There is a basket of flowers in the upper midline region of the sampler.

In the far-left lower corner of the sampler are the initials “SJP” and these may reflect the instructress’s initials. Note is made that while the last initial is “P”, there are no known relatives of Nancy Patterson Ford having these initials. In the lower right corner is the date “1843”.

(Given the very similar embroidery techniques, similar size of the samplers, very similar manner in which the samplers are nailed to wood backing and the close proximity of the Allen and Ford plantations, the findings strongly suggest that Catherine Allen, Nancy and Charlotte Ford all attended the same school and were taught by the same teacher, possibly “SJP” but this is without proof. The school that the Ford sisters and Catherine Allen attended is also a matter of conjecture. From Jennie Coles' manuscript titled "The Oakland Country" written in 1941, a promising hypothesis is suggested. She describes a school in the Smiths Grove community called “Pleasant Hill” which was on the property of Moses Shobe (house still standing), whose farm adjoined the farm of William Allen (see the AKS entry on Catherine Allen). This school was active as early as the 1850s. The 1850 census indicates that it was in operation at that time with a teacher named James H. Jones, (twenty-five years of age) boarding in the home of Moses Shobe.
From page seven (7) of Ms. Cole’s manuscript is the following:
“Down the highway from the Luther M. Shobe home once stood the Pleasant Hill Christian Church which was built in an early day. The Shobes, Allens, Tuckers, Fords and others were members of this church. In 1873 the organization built the first church in Oakland and moved their membership there. On the same hill as the church stood the Pleasant Hill school which was an important school before the public schools were established. The building consisted of several rooms, but a Masonic Lodge occupied part of the second floor. Boys and girls from a distance boarded in the homes of the community and attended this school. They usually had four teachers including a music teacher.” Again, AKS acknowledges that this is conjecture, albeit an intriguing one.)

Nancy Patterson “Nannie” Ford was born in December 1829, in Dripping Springs, Edmonson County, Kentucky at “Pt (Point) Retirement” Plantation. Her father William Ford, MD (1794-1860), was thirty-six years old and her mother, Nancy Ann Embry (1799-1854), was thirty-one. (Please see the entry for Dr. Ford in the "Family Histories Edmonson County, Kentucky" book in the below ancillary images.) Nancy Ann Embry (b.1799-d.1854, m. 04-17-1820) was the second of William Ford’s three wives (first wife was Ann Murphy, b.1799-d.1819, with one offspring and his third wife was Susan Ann Kirtley, b.1831-d.1915, m. 2-2-1857 with one offspring of this union as well).

In addition to these two half siblings, Nancy Patterson Ford had five full brothers and six full sisters including Ermine Artimissia "Mittie” Ford, (1821-1840), Elizabeth Ann "Lizzie" Ford (1821-1898), Henry Embry Ford (ca. 1823-?), Luther R. Ford (ca. 1826-1865), William Covington Ford (1828-?), Mary Charlotte "Lottie" Ford (1832-1915), Martha Jane Ford (1835-1892), John Miner Ford (1836-1856), Ellen Alice Ford (1838-1918), Ermine Artimissia Ford (1840-1906) and Christopher Columbus Ford (1842-?).

Smiths Grove and Dripping Spring were not towns, villages, or even hamlets. They were established Post Offices only. The Allens (see AKS sampler maker Catherine Allen) and the Fords lived in the country on a major thoroughfare that went by “The Big Road”, “New Orleans Trace”, “Lexington Road” as well as other names... even “Natchez Trace”. In 1829 the Louisville & Nashville Turnpike was authorized by the state legislature and construction of a cobblestone road with tolls every five miles was begun. Smiths Grove P.O. was established in 1829 and Dripping Spring P.O. was established in 1828. They were about three miles apart in the beginning and both families got mail at both places. The Fords and the Allens lived in between the two post offices. When the railroad came through in 1859, Dripping Springs was moved to the railroad and renamed Rocky Hill Station. Smiths Grove which by that time had moved several places, also moved to the railroad and kept its name.

Nancy Patterson Ford (see undated photo of Nancy in the ancillary images) married Henry Tandy Arnold (ca. 1814-?) on December 20, 1855, in Brownsville, Edmonson County, Kentucky. They had four children, Martha Harriet Arnold (1858-1879), Sarah “Sallie” Arnold, William Ford “Willie” Arnold (1862-aft. 1901) and Frances Barrett “Fannie” Arnold (1867-1956). There is no record of any of Nancy Patterson Ford Arnold’s children having offspring that attained adulthood.

Nancy Patterson “Nannie” Ford died in Eden, St. Lucie County, Florida on February 19, 1901, and is buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee. (see ancillary images)

AKS is most grateful to a prominent Warren County, Kentucky historian for significant portions of the above historical record. Likewise, he has graciously supplied AKS the image of the original carte-de-visite of Nancy Patterson (Ford) Arnold which was made about 1865, as well as the other ancillary images.