1850 - 1875 Mary La Follette's Pieced Quilt Top
date: label: date made
content: 1850-1875
name: label: maker
content: La Follette, Mary
notes: label: Description
content: This unfinished quilt top, which resembles a “Tic Tac Toe” game, was made by Mary La Follette of Primrose, Wis. Two different 8-inch block patterns were used to create the quilt top---an X and a hollow octagon. Ninety-nine blocks, pieced with roller-printed cottons, are framed by a 1 ¾-inch white border. In 1974, Mary’s granddaughter donated this quilt top that had been in the family.
label: Description
content: Mary Ferguson was born in November 1818 in Indiana. She married Alexander Buchanan in 1840, but he died in an accident before their first child, Ellen, was born. In 1846 Mary married Josiah La Follette. After a few years in Indiana they moved in 1849 with their children Ellen (b. 1841), and William (b. 1847) to Primrose County, Wis. They farmed, and two more children Josephine (b. 1853) and Robert Marion (b. 1855) were born. Another son, Marion, born in 1850, died as a toddler in 1853. Mary’s husband, Josiah, died in 1856, a few months after Robert was born. After Mary became a widow for the second time, she worked the farm with her children until 1862, when she married John Saxton (1792-1873). In 1873, after his death, she moved to Madison, Wis, where she died April 21, 1894.
label: Description
content: It was her youngest son, Robert or “Fighting Bob” La Follette who became well known in politics. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1885-1891), governor of Wisconsin (1901-1906) and U.S. Senator (1906-1925). He died in Washington, D.C., in 1925.
label: Description
content: Among many qualities, Mary was known for her industry, strong character, and active participation in the pioneer life of Primrose, Wis. The quilt top is a reminder of one of her skills, that as a seamstress. Her obituary in the <I> Mt. Horeb Times </I> of April 1894 stated “The brilliant career of her youngest son, from this period on, and the esteem in which her other children were held, must have been a source of pride and comfort to her in her old age.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Wisconsin
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Government, Politics, and Reform
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Textiles
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content: Quilts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: GIft of Mary La Follette
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T17173
label: accession number
content: 313380
label: catalog number
content: T17173
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 93 1/4 in x 78 1/2 in; 236.855 cm x 199.39 cm