1850 Mary T. Barnes's "Irish Chain" Quilt
date: label: date made
content: 1850
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: This quilt, a variation of the “Irish Chain” pattern, was made for Mary T. Barnes’s dower chest in 1850. She married Gen. John Bratton Erwin in 1866. Blocks pieced in red, green, and white cottons were set such that the “chain” runs both horizontally and vertically. Both plain and printed fabrics were used for the border which is quilted with parallel diagonal lines. An inked inscription, “Mary T. Barnes 1850” is in the upper left corner block. Mary’s two daughters donated the “Irish Chain” Quilt in 1933.
label: Description
content: Mary T. Barnes, the only child of Dixon Barnes (1816-1862) and Charlotte Brown Barnes, was born 16 October 1840 in Lancaster County, S. C.. Her mother died when Mary was six. Her father, Col.l Dixon Barnes, commanded the 12th South Carolina Infantry during the Civil War. Colonel Barnes died as a result of wounds during the Antietam Campaign when Mary was about 22.
label: Description
content: After her marriage in 1866, she and John Bratton Erwin (1834-1916) settled on her plantation in Lancaster County, S. C. John, trained as a lawyer, fought in the Civil War. After he married, he managed Mary’s large estates. They had six children of whom three lived into adulthood. In 1876 John Erwin was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives and in 1886 to the Senate. Mary died in 1893 and John in 1916. Both are buried in the Camp Creek Methodist Church Cemetery, Lancaster County, S. C.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: South Carolina, Lancaster
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Domestic Furnishings
label: See more items in
content: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Quilts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of the Misses Isabelle McCaw Erwin and Mildred Adair Erwin
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T07141
label: accession number
content: 122856
label: catalog number
content: T07141
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: filling, cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 91 3/4 in x 93 3/4 in; 233 cm x 238 cm