Sally McDuffee

A particularly engaging and beautifully executed sampler, this is signed “Sally McDuffee born in Londondarry March 7, 1786.” Sally was clearly highly skilled in the needle arts and must have been taught by an advanced teacher. The composition is highly refined, with letter-perfect stitching employed for the inscriptions and verse throughout and many organic leafy vines with splendid flower blossoms. Sally employed a variety of stitches, including the bullion stitch which forms the pale yellow centers of the larger flowers, and the satin stitch which was used for very delicate geometric borders. The bottom of the sampler is a depiction of flowering plants growing on a grassy lawn, again accomplished with great delicacy. 

Notably, Sally reiterated her name with black thread in vertical format along the left inner border. Interesting to note are the first two verses which reflect the philosophy of the Federal period, embracing the abilities of the female mind.

Sally was the last of the ten children born to Capt. Daniel McDuffee (1739-1824), and his wife, Margaret (Wilson) McDuffee (1744-1805), part of the prominent Scotch-Irish families of Londonderry, a town south of Manchester. As she stitched on her sampler, she was born on March 7, 1786, and would have been between 12 and 14 years old when she worked this sampler. 

Captain McDuffee served in the Revolutionary War under Col. Stephen Evans’ Regiment and fought at Lexington and Bunker Hill. He was a blacksmith by trade and his shop in Londonderry is said to have been a rendezvous spot for planning action against the British forces.

Sally’s maternal side of the family was notable as well. Her cousin was James Wilson (1763 -1855), a renowned terrestrial and celestial globe maker. His globes were manufactured in Londonderry until about 1815 when he removed to Albany.

Sally married Manasseh Willard (1785–1836) and they had eight children. She died in 1870 after living in Leominster, Massachusetts with a daughter and family for some years. There are photocopies from several published sources that are included in the file that accompanies the sampler. We first owned this sampler in 1993 and are delighted to have it back again. 

The sampler has worked in silk on extremely fine linen and is in excellent condition with a few areas of very minor weakness to the linen. It has been conservation mounted into a Federal style cherry frame with a gilt inner liner.