Abby Dimmock
under the instruction of her sister, Henrietta Dimmock,
Sandwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1834
A sampler with good visual appeal, this also tells a wonderful family story. The nine-year-old samplermaker included alphabets, the Lord’s Prayer, a double-chimney house and birds perched on trees. Her inscription reads, “Abby Dimmock her wo / rk wrought in her ninth yea / r Sept 1834 Sandwich.” Above the house she stitched, “Henrietta Dimmock Instr” informing us that her older sister was her teacher – perhaps at home or perhaps at a school. They were the youngest and eldest daughters of David and Esther (Wing) Dimmock. Abby, born in 1825, was 8 years old at the time and Henrietta, born in 1817, was 17 years old.
The Dimmock and Wing families are among the founding families of Sandwich, one the earliest towns on Cape Cod. We loved learning that the town’s historic motto is “Post tot Naufracia Portus,” which translates to "After so Many Shipwrecks, a Haven.”
In 1843, Abby married a mariner, Josiah Warren Godfrey, Jr. (1821-1899). History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts 1620-1890 by Simeon L. Deyo (New York, 1890), states that he, “followed the sea since the age of eight years and took charge of a vessel when sixteen years old.” She died at age 51 in 1877 and is buried in Pocasset Cemetery in Bourne.
The year after teaching her sister, Henrietta married a sea captain, Capt. Elisha Tobey (1809-1868), and they had four children. Their eldest, Maria F. Tobey, married John Coquin Hamblin, also a sea captain, and they had several children. Unusually, Maria sailed with her husband on many whaling and trading voyages, sometimes bringing their children along, as documented in Petticoat Whalers: Whaling Wives at Sea, 1820-1920 by Joan Druett (University Press of New England, 2001). A copy of this book will accompany the sampler, along with the file of research. Clearly, the lives of these family members, both male and female, were deeply intertwined with the sea and seafaring.
The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a molded and black painted frame.
photo of reverse