Anna Landis

The Fallsington Boarding School, a Quaker school, was established circa 1801 after members of the Falls Monthly Meeting raised funds for this purpose. There are only four samplers known to have been made at this school; Sarah Bye’s sampler dated 1802 is published in Historical Needlework of Pennsylvania by Margaret B. Schiffer, (Charles Scribner’s Sons,1968). 

We are pleased to offer this outstanding example made in 1803 by Anna Landis. A large sampler worked on extremely fine linen, this is filled with an excellent assortment of Quaker motifs - geometric medallions, flower branches and floral sprigs and pairs of birds are arranged in a pleasing composition. The center geometric medallion surrounds a classic Quaker aphorism, “An emblem of Love the constant Dove.” Initials of classmates are included along with those of many family members. 

Anna was born August 19, 1788 to David and Mary (Paxson) Landis; she was the eldest of their four children. The immigrant ancestor of the family was Heinrich Landes (1716-1808), a Mennonite. Later generations were Quaker Anna was born and raised in Bucks County. In 1829, Anna married Gardiner Furnace, as his second wife, at the Middletown Monthly Meeting, Bucks County. They became members of the Little Britain Monthly Meeting, in Lancaster County. Anna died in 1841 and is buried in Penn Hill Burial Ground in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in its original frame.