Quilter's Frame
Name/Title
Quilter's FrameEntry/Object ID
0065.001Description
Quilter's frame - wooden hand crafted quilting frameUse
Used by Harriett Owen Van Pelt Brown to manufacture of house-crafted quiltsContext
Harriett Owens VanPelt Brown was a colorful and resourceful individual with a quick mind and a great compassion for others- real pioneer stock. She was born in 1838 in Indiana, but migrated to Singers Glen and married for her first husband, Martin David VanPelt, Sr. He was one of the first volunteers to join the Confederate ranks from West Rockingham, but quickly succumbed to the rigors of war and died in camp in November 1861 of typhoid fever. He left behind a widow, Harriett, and his young son, Martin David VanPelt, Jr. who was born in the spring of 1862. Life in the Shenandoah Valley was exceedingly difficult and harsh for Harriett and her son after Martin's death. The North-South conflict had left the land virtually barren. Union soldiers had taken all food and livestock from the VanPelt farm. All, that is, except one chicken, which most likely had been hidden by Harriett. Grandma Harriett later told the story how she and her sister, Nancy, had killed the chicken and picked it (pulled off the feathers) in a "picking barrel." Feathers were saved for pillows, etc. They had roasted the chicken in the oven and had just sat down to eat when a patrol of Union cavalry rode up to the house. In a desperate attempt to save the only existing food between them and starvation, Harriett deftly swept the uncarved bird from the table and threw it into the feather-filled picking barrel! Harriet then successfully persuaded the soldiers that the chicken, which they could obviously smell, had already been eaten. When the patrol was out of sight, the chicken was retrieved from the barrel and again de-feathered- this time by skinning it- then eaten with great delight. This resourceful woman took her son Martin and migrated out to Ohio in 1863 with her sister, brother-in-law, and brother. They traveled in a two-horse wagon- leaving behind the war-torn and famine stricken Shenandoah Valley. However, the Valley wasn't forgotten and after 7 years they returned. In 1871 she married for her second husband, Perry Brown. She and Perry lived for the rest of their days in Singers Glen. Harriett died in 122 at the ripe old age of 84. The quilting frame, picture, and story of Harriet Owens VanPelt Brown were contributed by Robert Poland, her great grandson.Category
Quilt making