Sorry, I did not realize attached files could not be sent through this list. To all who replied immediately with requests to see the list, let's try again. Thanks, Jan A MOTHER’ LOVE This is a transcription of a quilt made for Violet M. Guthrie, in 1858, with signature and names from several locations in PA. I have read it as a square grid with six blocks across and six blocks down. Each row is read from left to right starting at the top across to block six, then seven to twelve, thirteen to eighteen, nineteen to twenty-four, twenty-five to thirty & thirty-one to thirty-six. Because of degrading contents in the different formulas of some early inks, some signatures have migrated into ‘blobs’; literally. Some inks have ‘rusted’ words or letters away. There are some methods that can be used to decipher those problem areas. Since I have moved to Colorado, I miss the wonderful textile area that I had built into my home in Ohio.(note: Colorado itself is too wonderful to miss Ohio and I can go home to visit often.) It has been quite a while since I have had an opportunity to attempt reading the inscriptions, so I took the quilt to the Pioneers Museum, where I volunteer two days a week working with their textiles, and was able to read much more in their facility with their lights and using my own black light. What follows is the result of that attempt and my time spent studying the names of the area while working on my Westmoreland, Cambria and surrounding county Plummer family genealogy. . For your reference, the / represents a standard museum symbol to denote that the following words are listed under the above written words on an acquisition description. A question mark following a letter indicates that the reading of the previous letter(s) is in question. A question mark following an entire word and in parenthesis indicates that the reading of the entire previous word is in question. Also note that the a in Maffett could be an o because I have seen it spelled both ways. They read as follows: Row 1: La?ydia H. Miller/Youngstown/Penna; Isabella M? Miller/Latrobe/Pa; Jane Robison/Salem/Pa; Hiney(?) Brown/Latrobe/Pa; Mary or Meary Maffett/Clarion Co./Pa; Miss Hannah White/St. Clair/Pa Row 2: Sarah A. Miller/Youngstown/Pa; Nancy(?) Maffett/Clarion Co/Pa; Mary or Marg. Guthrie/Holmes Co/O; Rebecca Corbetts/Clarion Co/Pa; A Mothers Love/Sarah Guthrie/Fountain/Hill; Asenath /Maffett/Clarion Row 3: Cousin Aggia/Fountain Hill/Pa; Pl____r(?) Maffer/Clarion; May Beaty(?)/Cl____onville(?)/ __(?)14,18__*this is a date; Maggie Culbertson/New Derry/West. Co./Pa; Lydia J. Taylor/ Loyalhanna; Heziah Maffett/Clarion Row 4: Nannie or Annie Moorison/Mar. or Near New Derry/___*probably a date; Martha B. Hamilton/Somitville(?)/Co. __ 85_; Blank, No writing; Pieced for/Violet M./Gutherie/1858(written on left side of block) J.F.Hames/ManorDale/Westmoreland/Pa(written on right side of block); M or N P. Culbertson/Unity Tp/Pa.; Martha Fulton/New Derry/Pa. Row 5: Martha McIntyre/New Derry/Pa.; Nancy Nannie Barnett/Blairsville/Pa.; Jane C. Fulton/New Fulton/New Derry/Pa.; Perlina Mills/Clarion County/Pa; Martha Robison or Roberton/New Derry____(?)/Pa; H or M or N _? Gutherie/New Derry/Pa Row 6: Mary Lowry/Strattonville/Clarion Co/Pa; Maria Bell/When chance this name to see/Say, will you not remember me.; Eliza/Bell/Latrobe/Pa.; Margaret Reed/New Derry/Pa; Eliza Reed/New Derry/Penna; Violet M. Guthrie/Pleasant Retreat/Pa Further research and time will fill in some of the blanks, I'm sure. At first I thought this quilt might have been made to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Violet Guthrie and J. F. Hams (the inscription for that name is decidedly masculine, but that could be wrong). Fountain Hill is in eastern PA and I have located two references to Pleasant Retreat, both in eastern PA. One, somewhat questionable source, describes it as a retreat where many marriages took place. This is noted in a few genealogies that list marriage locations as Pleasant Retreat, Chester Co., PA. I have not been able to find a Pleasant Retreat in Chester Co. as yet. Since a 27 year old, unmarried Violet and her widowed mother show up in New Derry in the 1960 census, then a marriage appears unlikely. Is it possible that J. F. Hams received and then delivered the quilt to Violet during a trip to eastern PA? The third reference to Pleasant Retreat is as a school in eastern PA. Violet would have been about 25 in 1858. Was she a teacher? This is a more plausible explanation to me currently. As you can see, there is much to do to unravel the mystery of “A Mothers Love.” Jan Thomas, Textile Specialist and Independent Researcher June 30, 2004