NORTHUMBERLAND ACADEMY, PENNSYLVANIA ATTRIBUTED NEEDLEWORK SAMPLER, silk on linen, six alphabet rows with a partial row of numerals segmented by horizontal bands of decorative stitching, below with a two-columns of an eight-line verse on mortality, lower fourth signed "Rebecca Davis / Northumberland Academy April 23 / 1822", all encompassed by an interlocking S-scroll inner border and a strawberry vine outer border. Housed under glass in a period mahogany-veneer frame. Dated 1822. 17 3/4" x 18 3/4" sight, 23 1/2" x 24 1/2" OA.
Catalogue Note: When we first offered this sampler in 2009, it was mis-identified as coming from the Northumberland Academy in Northumberland Co., Virginia, which was a noted boy's school in the Northern Neck. Since then, more information has become accessible thanks to the advancement of technology and the expansion of publically available materials in the last one-and-a-half decades.
This sampler came from the estate of Sara Boyd Armstrong (1916-1999) and her husband Irvine Marr Armstrong (1908-2001) of Loudoun Co., VA. Looking at Mrs. Armstrong's ancestry, most of her direct ancestors lived in Tennessee during the 19th century. In researching Mr. Armstrong's direct relatives, many of his ancestors in the 18th and 19th centuries hailed from Pennsylvania, including a number who lived and are buried in Northumberland Co., PA.
Immigrating to America in 1794, Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), who was an English chemist, Unitarian, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, and educator, among other things, settled in Northumberland Co., PA. In 1803, he helped establish the Northumberland Academy by donating his library to the school. The academy is recorded as being "short-lived", but appears to lasted several years after Priestley's death.
The maker of this sampler, Rebecca Davis, has yet to be identified, possibly being an ancestor of Mr. Armstrong, though there were many Rebecca Davises in Pennsylvania during that time period. For another similar sampler made at the Northumberland Academy, see MV Auctions, Buzzards Bay, MA, 11/21/2004, lot 1053. That sampler was made by Jane Elizabeth Chapman, aged 13, in 1823, just a year after Rebecca's. She is probably identified as Jane Elizabeth Chapman who was born on December 27, 1809 to parents (Judge) Seth Chapman (1771-1835) and Martha Richardson (1771-1841) of Bucks Co., PA. She married Charles Hill Kay (1812-1851) around 1836. Jane died on July 29, 1868 and is buried at Riverview Cemetery in Northumberland, PA.

Excellent visual condition except for small holes along the edges likely from original tacks, some thread with typical fugitive color, frame with some wear, surface scratches, veneer with some hairlines/cracks, losses, and repairs. Not examined out of frame.