Mary M. Boyden

A large and very good sampler, this is signed with a wonderfully complete inscription - “Mary M. Boyden’s work / Aged 8 Ashford July 9, 1827 / Executed under the Instruction of S. Simmons.” The town of Ashford is about 30 miles east and a bit north of Hartford, and Mary Minerva Boyden was born there on August 26, 1818. 

Thomas Boyden and His Descendants by Wallace C. Boyden, Merrill N. Boyden and Amos J Boyden (Boston, 1901), traces the family’s history in America to the immigrant ancestor, Thomas Boyden who was born in England and sailed from Ipswich in 1634 on the ship, Francis. He lived in Scituate, Massachusetts and many town records include mention of him. Five generations later, a branch of the family removed to Connecticut and eight generations later, Mary was born in Ashford, the first of four children of Calvin and Rosmond (Buck) Boyden. 

In 1837, Mary married Thomas Truesdell (1816-1888) of nearby Killingly and they became the parents of at least three children. She died in 1846 and is buried in Grove Street Cemetery in Putnam. 

Mary’s sampler is an ambitious size, especially for such a young girl. Her teacher, S. Simmons, has not been identified although further research may be forthcoming. 

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. The second alphabet is complete but worked in a silk floss similar in tone to the linen. It has been conservation mounted and is in a molded frame with a gilt liner.