Aunt Mollie and her quilts

This is a short history of Mary Narcissa Davidson Emmons 1854 - 1939 and her legacy.

She was born in North Salem, Hendricks, Indiana and lived there her whole life.

She was always known to me as Aunt Mollie.  It turns out that she was my grandmother's (Hilda Marie Davidson Fiscus) Aunt Mollie.  So that makes her my great great aunt Mollie.

She was the eldest of the seven children of Daniel Nave Davidson 1832 - 1893 and Elizabeth Dent Davidson 1830 - 1891.

Front row l - r   Oliver Davidson, Daniel N. Davidson, Lillie Davidson, Ida Davidson, Elizabeth Davidson
Back row l - r   William Davidson, Mollie Davidson, Melissa Davidson

Her siblings were;
Melissa Paralee Davidson 1857 - 1903
William Robert Davidson 1860 - 1920 (My grandfather)
Daniel Davidson 1862 - 1862
Ida May Davidson 1862 - 1892
Lillie Vinola Davidson 1867 - 1943
Oliver Franklin Davidson 1869 - 1878

She was 7 years old when the Civil War began in April 1961.  620,000 soldiers died in the Civil War and 24,416 of those were from Indiana.  38,568 soldiers from Indiana were wounded during the Civil War.  So, by the time Mollie was of marriageable age the choices for a husband were limited.

Mollie Davidson with photo album

I don't know a lot about her young life but she is listed in the 1880 Census as a dress maker.  She would have been 26 years old.  She was unmarried at the time.  I still have some of her pattern pieces that have been handed down.

Front Waist Pattern dated 1876

Back Waist Pattern

a newer Ladies and Childrens waist pattern dated 1883

Combination Shirt pattern

Pattern instruction Booklet

Left side front pattern - Right instructions for making a Basque

In the back of the pattern instruction booklet Mollie has written her name and her measurements.  It looks like she had a 35" bust and a 25" waist.  Those were the days when women wore corsets.

I have an interesting letter that she save dated April 1 1864, she would have been 29 years old.  It is from Rob't Barber of North Jamestown (Indiana).  He wrote in pencil and on the outside of the folded letter, it states; "I was under circumstances obliged to write with a lead pencil[.]
Please excuse[.] R. B."

I have transcribed it for you.

"North Jamestown                      April 1st / 84 (1864)

  Miss  Mollie Davidson

Miss Mollie, This beautiful April day I venture 

to write you some brief lines.  Though but a short

acquaintance, with you since our school days,

I am confident you are a perfect lady.  Trusting you 

was then my friend, but fear your affection has

fallen on some one else than me.  I sometimes think

myself a fool, for I fear my fate.  For you surely

have broken someones heart for love of gold.

if so I will be another; I trust and pray you will

answer (my is crossed out) this question, Will you be my loved

and loving wife, please say yes and give me your

heart and hand.  I tremble while I write with

love and fear.  I own confess all I am not a

rich man but can maintain a wife I

love so dearly.  If you say yes write to me

tomorrow and I will be at the 

office waiting impatiently.

But if the awful word no do not

write at all but burn this letter

and forget me forever.

If I receive no answer I shall

start for Idaho the 7th to never

see Indiana again.

But if yes you shall decide

whether we will go or stay in

Indiana

if yes I wish to visit you at the earliest date, then I'll tell

you all.

I do not wish to leave my love in Indiana.

Yours,

Rob't Barber"

Mollie never married Robert Barber but she saved his letter.  He did go to Idaho and became a rancher.

She didn't get married until April 1, 1900 when she was 45 years old.  She married James Oscar Emmons 1856 - 1922.  He was a house carpenter that was 2 years her junior.  They had no children.  He was listed as a son of the Deputy Sheriff of Danville, Hendricks, Indiana in the 1880 Census.

Mollie was well-known for her precise needlework.

I'm not sure if she made the clothing for herself and her sister Lillie in the picture below but I would guess that she did.

Mollie middle front row - Lillie far right back row

Aunt Mollie taught my grandmother how to sew and was known to reach down and turn up my grandmother's hem to check that the workmanship was good enough.*


Mollie participated in a commemoration celebration in 1930.  I'm sure she made her costume.

Mollie Emmons standing 3rd from left front row

Mollie Emmons with escort.

This is her house on the main street of North Salem Indiana.  Mollie Davidson Emmons lived  here with her younger sister Lillie Davidson until she died in 1939 at the age of 84.

l - r Lillie Davidson, Mollie Davidson Emmons

Her wonderful craftsmanship was also displayed in the three quilts I own that are attributed to her.

The first quilt is made using Indigo and white fabric in the feathered star pattern. 

The quilting is very tiny and the batting is quite thin, probably cotton.  This quilt has received a lot of wear.  It makes me wonder if this was a quilt Mollie's mother made ~

The lovely binding has blue embroidery carefully stitched on it.  That little attention to detail adds so much.  Indigo and white quilts were very popular in the last quarter of the 19th century.  It is said that in a quilter's body of work at that time, there would have been at least one indigo and white quilt.

Quilt measures 72" X 73"  White backing

The second quilt (my favorite) is a Star of Bethlehem quilt made with tiny diamond shaped pieces of fabric measuring 1 1/2" from tip to tip in the large stars and 1" in the smaller stars.

It is made from pieces of fabric available at the time of the Civil War and the late 1800's.

Mollie placed her fabric pieces, for the most part, so that there would be a lot of contrast.

Notice the gray (black and white) fabric with the tiny blue triangles.

It demonstrates exquisite hand piecing skills.  The hand quilting is beautifully and intricately done.

The large star blocks measure 13 1/2" across.  The tiny star blocks are 4" square.

 It is bound with single fold binding made out of double pink fabric.

 The hand quilting is done in a grid pattern and is less than an inch apart.

It is just a masterpiece as far as I'm concerned.  It is backed with what looks like muslin.

Quilt measures 72" X 88 1/2"

The third quilt is made in another variation of the Star of Bethlehem pattern.  It has a much brighter palette of colors.

I'm not quilt historian but I think this quilt was made in the 20th century.

The fabrics in this quilt are reminiscent of fabrics associated with the depression era and the 1940s.  Mollie died in 1939 so this may have been her last quilt.

This quilt is also hand pieced and quilted.  The background fabric has a sheen like a polished cotton.
It looks like it hasn't been washed.  I wonder if it was ever used.

The quilting pattern follows the lines of the stars, grids in the corners, and feathers in the sashing between.

Quilt measure 69 1/2" X 87 1/2"

It is a beautiful quilt, a real treasure.  It is backed with an tan fabric that may just be darker because of age.


Aunt Mollie's legacy of fine sewing has been handed down to me.  I hope she would have a smile of satisfaction if she turned up the hem of my skirt (see earlier in the story*).  I love to quilt and I often think of her as I'm placing my own stitches into a beautiful handmade article.

Robin

2-10/2019
Since compiling this story about Aunt Mollie I have been wondering who taught her to sew and quilt.  Perhaps the expertise in this craft was passed down to her.  It makes sense that her mother and grandmother taught a young Mollie the skills she would perfect and use to earn her living.