Mary Jane Hale

We are always delighted when an excellent sampler presents a strong composition and fine needlework along with revealing the story of an unusual personal history. Mary Jane Hale (1817-1886) made this sampler when she was 8 years old; she included the names of her parents on it, which allowed for her identification. Mary went on to lead quite a remarkable life, as documented by Wikipedia and many published sources. 

Mary Jane was one of four children born to Elias White (1775-1832) and Jane (Mullhallan) Hale (1785-1853). Elias married Jane in her hometown of Stratford, Connecticut, in February of 1810. Between the birth of Mary Jane and before 1819, when the last of their children were born, the Hale family moved to Lewistown in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Elias practiced law in Mifflin and Centre Counties. 

According to family accounts, Mary Jane, as a teenager and despite her mother's objections, communicated directly with her romantic interest and somewhat older first cousin, Gideon Welles (1802-1878), of Glastonbury, Connecticut, the son of Samuel and Ann (Hale) Welles. Mary and Gideon were married in Lewistown on June 16, 1835, when Mary was 18 years old. The couple subsequently removed to Hartford, Connecticut.

Gideon was a lawyer and an early editor of The Hartford Times, the leading daily newspaper. Between 1827 and 1835, he was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives as a Democrat and continued to serve in various state governmental posts. In 1854, he became a Republican and founded a new newspaper, the Hartford Evening Press, which championed Republican ideals.               

Gideon's strong support for Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election resulted in his nomination and inclusion in the Cabinet as Secretary of the Navy. After Lincoln's assassination, Andrew Johnson retained him in the same capacity.

In Washington, D.C., Mary Jane became a close friend and intimate of Mary Todd Lincoln. When the Lincolns' sons, Willie and Tad, fell ill with typhoid fever in 1862, Mary Jane stayed at the White House for several weeks to nurse them (Willie died and Tad survived). During the war years, Mary Welles and Mary Lincoln visited military hospitals together in the Washington area to write letters for the soldiers and distribute gifts. Mary Welles again attended Mary Lincoln in her grief after President Lincoln was assassinated.

Through Mary Lincoln, Mary Welles became connected to the highly skilled African American seamstress Elizabeth Keckley, who was the chief dressmaker to the First Lady. Elizabeth had purchased her own freedom and that of her son with proceeds from her sewing skills. A cabinet card survives depicting Mary Welles in a mourning gown designed and constructed by Elizabeth Keckley. Mary Welles was said to have worn the dress for the funeral of her son Hubert in 1862 and again for the funeral of President Lincoln in 1865 (Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, acc. 2018.35.2.2). Mary’s hand-written letters are highly regarded and are included in the collections of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives and the University of Michigan, William L. Clements Library. 

Mary and Gideon had nine children, all but four of whom lived to adulthood. Surviving her husband, she died on February 28, 1886, in Hartford and is buried next to him in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

The sampler features a balanced composition with characteristics that show the influence of Philadelphia samplermaking traditions of the late 18th century - the little tableaus of stylized pine trees, the horizontal band of strawberries and the highly structured border. Two diamond-shaped elements worked in the queen’s-stitch in the lower corners also refer to earlier needlework patterns and techniques. Mary Jane stitched the beehive motif which symbolizes hard work and industry and included many buzzing bees around it. 

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a beveled cherry frame with a maple bead. 
 

photo of reverse