Sarah H. Fisher

A very well made and handsome sampler, this was made by Sarah Hawkins Fisher in 1825. She included alphabets, a numerical progression, depictions of two fat birds, a cautionary couplet and the name of her town - Franklin. Sarah was born on March 11, 1813 and so was 12 years old when she made this. Her parents were Maxcy Franklin (1785-1865) and Persis Metcalf (1792-1835), both were from families with deep roots in the area. Franklin is south and a bit west of Boston, close to the Rhode Island border. 

The Fisher Genealogy by Philip A. Fisher (Massachusetts Publishing Company, 1898) tells us a great deal about her family, going back eight generations. Maxcy Fisher was initially a shoemaker and then a cattle trader. “He was a man of much more than common ability, of fine personal appearance, of a very genial and cheerful disposition.” About Persis (Metcalf) Fisher it was said, “She was a woman of culture, and graduated at Day’s Academy in Wrentham, when that was a celebrated school.”

Sarah died young, at age 24 on December 11, 1837 and is buried in the Union Street Cemetery in Franklin along with many family members. 

The sampler is in excellent condition and retains its original color as shown in the photo of the reverse taken prior to the mounting.  It has been conservation mounted and is now in a late 19th century oak frame.