The sampler has eight rows of alphabets and numerals separated by narrow crossbands with significant loss of thread in several rows and crossbands. The signature reads:
Susan D. Maxcy was born Janua
ry. 29th 1812 Bowling Green.
Remember they creator in the days
of thy youth J.M. M.P.M. E.W.M.
K.J.M. N.(?).M. M.P.B. L.(?)M. E.G. (?)A.O.

Susan D. Maxcy was born in 1812 in Warren County, Kentucky. Her father, John (1787-1848) (perhaps the "J.M." in the signature), was twenty-five years old, and her mother, Margaret “Peggy” Cook (1790-1842) (perhaps the "M.P.M." in the signature) was twenty-two. Susan's middle name may be "Davis" after her grandmother, (the first) Susan Davis Maxcy. She had two siblings including Emeline (1810-1870) (perhaps the "E.W.M." in the signature) and Nancy B. (1818-1902) (perhaps the "N.(?).M" in the signature). The "M.P.B.", "L.(?)M.", "E.G." and (?)"A.O." in the signature are of uncertain etiology.
The scattered initials on this Warren County, Kentucky sampler (also suggested at the end of the sixth alphabet row ["M.C.] and after "Bowling Green") is mildly similar to the scattered initials seen on other Warren County, Kentucky samplers in the AKS Collection (Eliza Jane Mitchell and Elizabeth Gossom Roberts and interestingly, Elizabeth Gossom's initials are "E.G."). "A.O." also appears on Elizabeth Gossom's sampler. Were "A.O.", "E.G.", and Susan D. Maxcy all classmates? Whether there is a commonality of school or teacher is however conjecture at this time. According to the 1820 and 1830 census records the only families in Warren County, Kentucky whose surname begins with "O" were Ogden and Otey.

Susan D. Maxcy married John Howorth (1800-1857) on December 26, 1838, in her hometown. They had five children in fifteen years including Lawrence (1839-1860), Margaret Elizabeth (1842-1846), Sarah Emma (1845-1925), John Maxey (1849-1854) (named for his grandfather who died just prior to his birth) and Joseph M. (1854-1858).

Susan D. Maxcy’s husband John Howorth died May 21, 1857 in Warren County, Kentucky and is buried in Pioneer Cemetery in Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky. AKS cannot find details concerning the death of the sampler maker, Susan D. Maxcy. However, Susan D. Maxcy's grandmother (Susan Davis Maxcy) died in 1812 and her grandfather, Joel remarried Elizabeth Ann Brown in 1815 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They had removed to Springfield, Illinois by 1830. After the death of her first husband John Howorth and all but one of her children, it appears she moved to Springfield and married William S. Burch (per an Illinois marriage certificate). William and Susan are probably both dead by 1870 as suggested by their absence on the 1870 census.