There are nine rows of alphabets and numbers intermittently separated by five narrow crossbands. After the “Z” in the third row is the so called 27th letter of the alphabet, the ampersand, “&”, and Sallie’s school name, “Bardstown Academy”. After the ampersand in row nine is the signature:

Sallie McDonnall

Below this is the Proverb from FAB. XCV THE HUSBANDMAN AND HIS SONS. from Aesop Fables:

Wisdom Industry is Fortune’s handmaid.

Below this is a selection from “Introduction to The English Reader” by Lindley Murray, Philadelphia, 1831. It is Verse 4, Section V (Verses accompanying a Nosegay), Chapter III (Didactic Pieces), of Part II.

Sallie
Now in the opening spring of life
Let every floweret bloom
The budding virtues in thy breast
Shall yield a sweet perfume

To the right of the above is:

Prove all things, hold fast that which is good
Abstain from all appearance(s) of evil

1 thess chapter v ver xxI xxII
(1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)

Sarah (Sallie/Sally) McDonnall was born on February 06, 1835 in Nelson County, Kentucky to as of yet, unknown parents.
She married John Bemiss Merrifield (1827-1864) on May 4, 1853 in Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky. They had four children including Samuel B. (1854-1905), Julia Francis (1857-?), Eliza Vernon Russell (1859-1940), and Fielda M. (1862-1902).

Sallie McDonnall died on May 31, 1870 in Nelson County, Kentucky and is buried in the Old Bloomfield Cemetery, Bloomfield, Nelson County, Kentucky as is her husband (see ancillary images).