Eliza A. Fulton

A group of highly significant, sought-after samplers with distinctive characteristics is called the “Fruit and Flower Samplers” and was first identified by Betty Ring; most of these samplers feature wide borders decorated with fruit including grapes bunches on leafy, tendrilled vines, branches and baskets of flowers, and large butterflies. Another hallmark of this group is the excellent needlework, indicating that the teacher or teachers held their students to the highest standards. A subset of this group includes samplers made by girls from Cecil County, Maryland, and we are delighted to offer Eliza A. Fulton’s splendid example. 

A Maryland Sampling: Girlhood Embroidery, 1738-1860, by Dr. Gloria Seaman Allen (Maryland Historical Society, 2007), discusses this group at length and includes information about our Fulton sampler, on page 103. Subsequent genealogical research has revealed specifics about Eliza and we are grateful for the assistance that we received from Cynthia Steinhoff, who worked closely with Dr. Allen. Eliza’s sampler is very similar to one made by Eliza Tyson, also in 1834 and referenced by Dr. Allen.  
Born circa 1817, Eliza was the daughter of Hugh and Ann (Rammage) Fulton who were married on January 5, 1808, in Cecil County. She would have been about 17 years old when she made this sampler. On December 17, 1845, in Cecil County, she married William Fulton, a cousin no doubt. The 1850 census finds the family in District 4, Cecil County, with William listed as a carpenter. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in its fine, original cherry frame.