Shaker Sampler made by Amanda Olmsted

Among the approximately one hundred utopian and religious communities that existed in America during the 19th century, the Shaker communities are the best known and most widely respected. The objects that the Shakers made and lived with served a utilitarian purpose and are revered for their handsome, spare design and precise workmanship. Only five samplers are known to have been made in the Ohio Shaker communities and, in many ways, Amanda Olmsted’s is the finest. She was 30 years old in 1836 when she worked this sampler.

Amanda had been a Shaker since the mid 1820’s when her entire family joined Union Village, the largest Shaker community west of the Allegheny Mountains. As inscribed inside the wreath on her sampler, she was born July 13, 1806, and it is believed the family was from Vermont and then, briefly, Canada, prior to joining the Shakers.

Union Village records indicate that Amanda’s position within the community was Second Eldress from 1832 until 1837. As such, she would have served as assistant to the community Eldress, and perhaps, more significantly for the purpose of interpreting her sampler, she also functioned as the overseer to the adolescent girls. Amanda’s days would have been devoted to teaching skills such as needlework, weaving, rug making and laundry. Her sampler would have served as a fine example to her charges and an excellent template from which they would have learned to mark linens and clothing - important jobs within this large and active communal village.

Amanda remained a member of Union Village for the balance of her life. She died in December 1883, and the Shaker Manifesto of January 1884, states, “She has been a faithful member for 60 yrs. living a pure virgin life and devoted to community interests. She honored her profession and zealously supported the cause of the Gospel and has now gone on to a happy home in the better Land.” 

The file that accompanies this sampler includes copies of Shaker records, census records and death and burial records. 

The sampler is in excellent condition, worked in silk on linen and conservation mounted into a red-stained maple frame with a black inner beveled edge.