Description The sampler has five rows of alphabets and numbers separated by narrow and mildly decorative crossbands. There is a floral border with the signature:
Worked by Margaret A Wathen
Bethlehem June 28 1836 M.A.W.
After her marriage, and below the floral border, she stitched:
John C. Walker. Margaret A Walker.
AKS believes the “Bethlehem” stitched on the sampler refers to the Bethlehem Literary Institution in Hardin County, Kentucky, just east of Meade County, Kentucky. (see the ancillary images)
Margaret Amelia Wathan, daughter of Gabriel Wathan (1789-1857) (born in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Kentucky) and Seany Asenath Little (1798-1835) (of Meade County, Kentucky), was born on April 23, 1820. Her siblings included Matilda Mary (1815-1853), Henry Little (1817-1822), Sarah Wintersmith (1823-1906), John Little (1825-1867), Horace Gates (1828-1890), Charles Sceaney (1831-1909), Erika Gustava (1834-1834), and Gabriel Washington (1834-1839).
Margaret Amelia married John Caldwell Walker (1814-1894),on January 23, 1838 in Meade County, Kentucky, (see ancillary images for marriage documents). Their children included John G. (1839-1920), Mattie J. (1841-1850), Sarah Logan (1843-1846), infant (1846-1846), Anna (Bottomley)(1848-1922), Emma (1851-1866), Mary (1855-?), Margaret (1858-?), Elizabeth (1860-1870), and Robert M. (1861-1864). Birth certificates and census records show that Margaret and her family lived in or around Brandenburg in Meade County, Kentucky for a significant portion of Margaret’s life. The 1870 census and his obituary show John Caldwell Walker being a lawyer, judge, and state senator (see his obituary and memorial ribbon in the ancillary images) and Margaret as keeping house. John G. Walker practiced law with his father, John C. Walker (see ancillary images).
Margaret A. Wathen died on September 29, 1877 and is buried in the Wathen Cemetery in Brandenburg, Meade County, Kentucky with her husband (see ancillary images).
AKS would like to thank Jerry Jupin, the sampler maker’s first cousin four times removed, and Ilana Melanson, the sampler maker's great, great, great, grand-daughter for important portions of the above data.
