While most people are familiar with published family genealogies 和 manuscript lists of ancestors in musty family Bibles, genealogy also played a starring role in the decorative arts. One of the most interesting is the 家谱采样器, which first appeared in the late 18th century 和 reached its peak of popularity between 1820 和 1830, 特别是在新英格兰地区. Whereas girls of a previous generation might have expressed their family pride by stitching an elaborate coat of arms, as 莎莉·科布·潘恩在18世纪60年代做过, 到世纪之交, girls stitched records that were less formal 和 more focused on recording their own family unit. 正如Peter Benes所说, family unity in these records was demonstrated in a common 和 easily understood visual vocabulary, 通过连锁链, 通过相邻的圆, 通过站立的建筑结构, 并通过种植网格或“字段”的名称.”

儿童家庭取样器

汉娜Richards Child’s 1827 家谱采样器 contains elements of Benes’s formula. Strong twin pillars enclose the family’s names within, crowned with an arch 和 the phrase “Lo Children are an heritage of Gd,出自诗篇127:3, which continues “Like arrows in the h和s of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” Hannah’s choice of psalm serves as both an affirmation of her strong religious faith 和 a loving tribute to her father. 她的母亲丽贝卡于1826年去世, Hannah—according to her own obituary—"had devoted herself assiduously to her surviving parent, 在许多考验中安慰他, through which he has recently been called to pass, 和 directing his house with a degree of judgment, 谨慎, 以及难以比拟的感情.”

在柱子里面, Hannah recorded the names 和 birthdates for herself 和 her 11 siblings, although by the time she stitched her family register, three of her siblings 和 her mother had died. Two names are repeated on the list—Isaac 和 Hannah. 当时, child mortality was not uncommon 和 when a child died, the next child of the same sex would sometimes be named for his or her predecessor, 通常在同一年内. 这种情况在Child家族中发生过两次. The first Hannah was born in 1794 和 stitched 1805年她自己的采样器 four years before her death in January of 1809 at the age of 14. 我们的样品制作师, 同年晚些时候出生, 被命名为汉娜, 这个名字对她来说也是不吉利的. 缝制这个样品四年后, 汉娜Richards Child met a tragic end 和 was glowingly eulogized in the 13 April 1831 edition of the 哥伦比亚Centinel:

5月5日在牛顿去世. 汉娜小姐. 孩子，22岁，先生最小的女儿. 丹尼尔的孩子. 这个年轻女人的突然死亡, together with the distressing circumstances of it, has cast a gloom over the whole neighbourhood. 去看一个, 如此可爱，如此优秀, 一度身体非常健康, 和, 在下一个, torn from us by death in one of its most heart-rending forms, 真的很痛苦. 在那天的下午, her aged father left his home to be present at an examination of a neighbouring school. 他回来后, 大约5点钟, 发现她不在房子里, 等了很短的时间, in momentary expectation of her return he became alarmed. The neighbours were assembled, 和 search was made. At 8 o’clock in the evening, her remains were found at the bottom of the well, near the house. It appears that she had gone to the well for water; 和 that, 越过路边, 把桶提出来, she was precipitated to the bottom of the well, 那是二十五英尺深, 有14英尺深的水. Medical aid was at h和, 和 every effort made to rekindle the spark of life; but it was quenched.

The scene presented by this event was heart-rending to those who witnessed it. For several years since the death of her mother, this affectionate daughter had devoted herself assiduously to her surviving parent, 在许多考验中安慰他, through which he has recently been called to pass, 和 directing his house with a degree of judgment, 谨慎, 以及难以比拟的感情. 去看这位老人, in the increasing alarm for his daughter’s safety, 对她的命运忧心忡忡, that became more dreadful with every moment’s delay, 但显然害怕知道最坏的情况, 最后在绝望的痛苦中, 当他看到她死了, must have touched every heart that was not itself dead to feeling. 对她父亲来说，没有比这更痛苦的打击了, to her brother 和 sisters none more severe—by the circle—the large circle—of her friends, 没有人比他更能感觉到. The void that this death has left in society will not be easily filled. But all her friends have the consolations that spring from their religious convictions 和 hopes, 和 the beauty 和 excellence of her character. We bow before the mysterious movements of God’s holy providence, 和 hope 和 trust that such as may have been influenced by her example to follow in her steps, may hereafter be united with her in the rewards which have been graciously set before our hopes, 作为美德的动机, in the gospel in which the deceased trusted till her death, 她一生都在装饰它.