Abigail Woolley

Samplers made at Quaker schools in the early decades of the 19th century generally reflect a handsome plainness; some of these feature block-letter alphabets and a simple border capped by a bell-flower. While about 300 samplers are known to have been made at the Westtown School in Chester County, Pennsylvania, only a handful of samplers made at the North School of Philadelphia are documented. These were made between 1805 and 1821. A deep dive of research conducted just recently has revealed a treasure trove of information about this school and we are pleased to offer this sampler made in 1805 by Abigail Woolley, the earliest one known to have been made at the school. 

The North (or Northern) Meeting was created in 1772, a division of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. In 1788, a new meetinghouse was erected in Keys Alley, between Front and Second Street, just south of Vine Street. In 1798 and 1799, a schoolhouse was built on an adjacent lot. Minutes from an 1802 North Meeting indicate that the “Committee appointed a suitable mistress to teach needle work, knitting, etc. in one of the upper rooms of the school on Key’s Alley,” and that they had hired Ann Tucker, a Friend. She remained there and was joined by another teacher, Ann Thomas, and both of these ladies were teaching in 1805. The DAR Museum has within its collection a sampler made at the North School in 1812. 

A full report on the origin and early years of the North School accompanies the sampler, along with many Quaker records about the school and about Abigail Woolley. 

Abigail was the eldest child of George and Elizabeth (Justice) Woolley, members of the Northern Monthly Meeting. Her birth in 1796 is recorded at the Meeting. She was married three times, to David Thomas (1795-1817), George Widdifield (1779-1846) and David Ellis (1782-1860) and had children with her first two husbands. Her daughter, Elizabeth Justice Allen, married Samuel Allen (1813-1889), who served as Sherrif of Philadelphia. Much information is included in Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. I, by John W. Jordan (The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911). Abigail died in 1874 and is buried at Fair Hill Burial Ground in Philadelphia. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a cherry frame with a figured maple bead.