Anna Saltonstall

Haverhill, a town in Essex Massachusetts located 35 miles north of Boston at the New Hampshire border, was the home of the Saltonstall family going back to Nathaniel Saltonstall (c. 1639-1707) and his wife, Elizabeth (Ward) Saltonstall (1647-1714). The Saltonstalls are considered one of the founding families of Massachusetts. 

Four generations later, Anna was born on November 3, 1787, to Nathaniel and Anna (White) Saltonstall; she was the 4th of their 7 children. Notably, Anna’s grandfather, Richard Saltonstall (1703-1756) served as Justice of the Superior Court of the Province of Massachusetts. A portrait of him is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery.

The Descendants of Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall of Haverhill, Massachusetts by C. Seward (Newbury Street Press, Boston, 2013) provides detailed information about this family and photocopies of much of this are included in the file that accompanies the sampler. 

In 1820, Anna married James Cushing Merrill (1784-1853), who was also from a prominent Haverhill family. He attended Harvard, class of 1807, and became a distinguished lawyer of Boston, serving in many civic positions. A profile of him published in Memorial Biographies of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston, 1881) concludes in part, “In all the relations of life, Mr. Merrill was singularly happy, fulfilling the duties growing out of them faithfully and acceptably. As a professional man he was fair and honorable; as a magistrate, impartial and just; as a citizen, public-spirited, and willing to bear the burdens which citizenship imposes; in private life, as a husband and father, gentle, affectionate, and loving.” Anna and James had 4 children, 2 sons and 2 daughters. She died in 1865.

The sampler features wonderfully delicate needlework. Alphabets and an excellent verse, “Rear’d by blest Education’s nurturing hand / Behold the maid arise her mind expand / Deep in her heart the seeds of virtue lay / Maturing age shall give them to the day,” fill the sampler embellished by several narrow, decorative, horizontal bands.  A refined organic leafy vine with flower blossoms and buds emanates from the lawn that grounds the bottom. The inscription is just above that, “Anna Saltonstall aged 11 1799.” While pale in coloration, all of it is legible. The sampler is listed in American Samplers, by Bolton and Coe, published in 1921 by the Massachusetts Society of Colonial Dames. 

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. Note that the weave of the linen is slightly striated. It has been conservation mounted and is in its excellent, original gold leaf frame.