Quilt

PeriodDated 1889

Place MadeJacobstown, North Hanover, New Jersey, U.S.A.

MediumCotton, red cotton embroidery thread

Dimensions79 × 78.5 in. (200.7 × 199.4 cm)

ClassificationsQuilts and Coverlets

Credit LineGift of William C. Mulford, 1940

Object number1413

DescriptionA "Summer Spread" style quilt, with thirty blocks of plain white cotton each embroidered with bright red cotton embroidery thread in a variety of designs and inscriptions, arranged five across by six down straight set with no sashing. The designs include floral patterns, Kate Greenaway figures, and a central design of an American eagle with a shield banner and flages surrounded by the names of U.S. Presidents from George Washington to Grover Cleveland. The edges are finished, the front being turned to the back and embroidered with decorative stitching.
Curatorial RemarksRedwork spreads and embroidered household linens reached their peak popularity towards the end of the 19th century and into the first two decades of the 20th century. Plain white cotton yardage was embroidered with red cotton thread to create a relatively simple, quickly completed, colorful decorative item. Pre-printed fabric panels could be purchased with a design in light blue, ready for the needle. Many auxilliary groups of churches produced redwork spreads to as fundraising for a local parish or congregation. This particular spread seems to have been made as a gift for Reverend William E. Cornwell (1838-1916). There is no batting to this spread, with only the single layer of cotton sheeting and the embroidery. The edges are turned and hemmed with decorative stitching, an indication that this was more of a decorative bed spread for warm or hot weather, rather than a traditional layered quilt.NotesAccording to original donor files, this charming and lovely summer quilt was presented to Reverend William E. Cornwell (1838-1916) by the ladies of the Baptist Church in Jacobstown, Burlington County, New Jersey. Cornwell (whose name occasionally appeared as "Cornwall") worked as a printer in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, before attending the University of Lewisburg (now Bucknell University) in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the theological department. He was ordained in Woodstown, New Jersey. His first pulpit seems to have been the Lower Dublin Baptist Church at Bustleton, Philadelphia, the oldest Baptist Church in Pennsylvania. Cornwell served there for fifteen years. After a brief stint at the First Baptist Church in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Cornwell moved to the Baptist Church at Jacobstown. According to his obituary, he "had a long pastorate" there, after which he moved to Manahawkin, where he died in 1916 at the age of 78. Cornwell married Lydia Amanda Snowden (1832-1911) and the couple apparently had no children. Cornwell appears to have preached or served as either temporary or interim pastor at several other regional Baptist churches in New Jersey. The quilt may have been presented to him to commemorate his departure from Jacobstown to Manahawkin in or around 1889.The donor, William C. Mulford, was the son of Reverend Cornwell's sister Elizabeth Cornwell Snowden (1830-1897). William Mulford was recognized as an authority on early New Jersey history.

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