Archive of 18 manuscript weaving pattern drafts by a woman in Texas, ca. 1840-1860s

Eighteen manuscript drafts for weaving on a harness loom, including patterns for dimity and overshot. The average draft measures around 2 x 15 inches; the smallest is 4 inches and the longest is 29 inches. Many of the drafts are stitched or pinned together from thin strips of reused paper and have pinholes from being tacked to the loom. One draft is split in two sections, the others are intact. All are exceedingly delicate and have been irregularly folded (some, more like crumpled). The drafts are housed in an envelope (3.75 x 7.5 inches) with the note, “Drawn by Grandmother Brown in 1841 Given to me by my mother in 1936.” The envelope also contains a calling card signed Miss Annie Crockett and Miss Mary Love (possibly our weaver’s sister), and a small manuscript note: “My coverleat (sic) that Grandma gave me was made in 1861, Dyed with Bramble Brush root. Mamma told me this Christmas 1935.” 

The collection comes from Johnson County, Texas, and the drafts are variously signed M.L. Brown, Mrs. S. Brown, Margrett Brown. Some patterns have titles, including “Texican flower,” “Georgia beauty,” “queen of England,” which reflect a wide geography. Some are recognizable patterns, others are likely original designs–mostly unnamed. “The boy in the Wildnerness” is a particularly evocative title that hasn’t turned up in our review of weaving pattern books. In contrast to frontier weaving traditions focused on utilitarian textile production, weaving dimity was a means to create decorative textiles with limited materials. Instead of using dyes, which would have needed to be made by hand, directly weaving textures and patterns elevates the character of the textile. Though woven with finer cotton and with a more delicate appearance than the scratchy homespun produced by home weavers, dimity could be made durable and is often associated with coverlets. (See: Marks, Paula Mitchell. Hands to the Spindle: Texas Women and Home Textile Production, 1822-1880)

This substantial collection of drafts is rare in itself, and the documentation of provenance is of added significance. Although the woman who wrote the notes hasn’t signed her own name, her note is concrete evidence of how this information was passed through generations of women–and why, despite appearing to only be hatch marks on scrap paper, they have been meaningfully preserved (even in the modest and now well-worn envelope. 

Notable characteristics of drafts and length in inches (all 2-2.5 inches wide, unless otherwise noted). Original manuscript text in quotations:

1. Draft on blue stitched paper with poem fragment on the back, 21.5 inches

2. “A draft for dimity” with Arabic numerals and instructions, signed Mrs. S. Brown, 15.5 inches

3. “Texican Flower” on pale green paper, remnant of a bill on the back, dated 1848, and a very faint alphabet in pencil, 9 inches

4. “Georgia beauty” pattern written on both sides, 16 inches

5. “The end of a draft for coverlets,” 17 inches

6. “The end of dimity, M. L. Brown,” 16 inches

7. “The end of dimity [Emer. Skinner?],” 23 inches

8. “Huckback and satin stripe [S–n?]) Brown, M.L.B.” On reverse: “Friendship is the cement of two minds,” 14 inches

9. “The end of it” 21.5 inches

10. “The (chamit whel?) 15.5 inches

11. “queen of England Margrett L. Brown,” 15.5 inches

12. “The boy in the wilderness,” 29 inches

13. [folded up sheet] 7.5 x 3 inches

14. [no writing] 8 inches

15. [pinned together] 18”

16. [“Miss Susan Brown?”], 4 inches

17. Blue draft in two pieces, each 6 inches

18. “The end of dimity,” 15.5 inches