Lydia Hoopes

We are pleased to offer this important 1765 Pennsylvania sampler, long considered an icon of early samplermaking since it was published in Historical Needlework of Pennsylvania by Margaret B. Schiffer (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1968). At that time, it was stated that it was the earliest known Pennsylvania sampler and it remains the only one to document the Hollis school. The inscription reads, “Lydia Hoopes the Daughter of John Hoopes and Christian his Wife Made her Sampler in the 10th Year of her age 1765,” and states that it was made at Mrs. Hollis School in Goshen.

Research conducted just recently provides much information about the family. Sources include History of Chester County, Pennsylvania with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches by J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope (Louis H. Everts, 1881), Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania: Comprising a Historical Sketch of the County by Winfield Scott Garner (Gresham Publishing, 1893) and Historical Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Chester and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania by Gilbert Cope and Henry Ashmead (The Lewis Publishing company, 1904) as well as Quaker records.

The Hoopes family in America began with Joshua and Isabel Hoopes who came from Yorkshire, England in 1683 and settled in Bucks County. Their son Daniel removed to Westtown Township, Chester County in 1696. Lydia was a birthright Quaker, the granddaughter of Daniel, a member of the Goshen Monthly Meeting. She was born on November 24, 1755, the daughter of John Hoopes (1713-1795) and his second wife, Christian (Reynolds) Hoopes (1718-1800). The initials of several of her siblings, John, Henry, Elizabeth, James, Francis, Jane and Christian, are included on the sampler. In 1777, Lydia married David Pratt (1756-1844) at the Goshen Meetinghouse. David was also a birthright Quaker, belonging to the Newtown Friends Meeting. They had eleven children and Lydia died at age 81 in 1836. She is buried in the Friends burial grounds adjacent to the meetinghouse in Newtown Square. 

When Lydia’s sampler was published in 1968, a wonderful excerpt regarding Mrs. Hollis’ school was included from The Ashbridge Book Relating to Past and Present Ashbridge Families in America by W. T. Ashbridge (The Copp, Clark Company, Toronto, 1912). “The girls were taught by Mistress Hollis, who conducted a small school in her own residence, about a mile from their home. She enforced habits of strict obedience and attention, regulated their manners, and required and erect posture in their exercises… Probably their literary advantages were few compared with those now enjoyed by young ladies, but the result was a facility for action in every department of woman’s life, and the art of producing an extraordinary amount of fine needlework.”

Regarding the identity of Mrs. Hollis, circumstantial evidence through research points to Mrs. Ellinor Hollis, a widow and mother of three children as of 1763, living in East Bradford Township. Teaching school from her home would have been the most likely source of income for this family. 

Remarkably, the back of the sampler is as beautifully finished as the front as is evident from the photo that was taken prior to conservation mounting. This is a clear sign of excellent instruction and a talented samplermaker. 

Worked in wool on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. There are some very minor areas of loss; these were evident when it was first published. It has been recently conservation mounted and remains in the early 19th century mahogany frame that housed it since that period. 

photo of reverse