Quaker Valley Quilt

The Quaker Valley Quilt, which was purchased in honor of William and Roseanna Wright in early 2000's, has come home to Menallen Meeting.  The signature quilt was made circa 1850 and has seventy-six names, which have been researched by Menallen members Deb McCauslin and Judy Pyle. They found that most persons whose names are inscribed on the blocks had local origins, although over half had moved west, to Ohio, Indiana and Iowa. Only twenty-five of the persons actually lived in Adams County.  Hiram A. Thomas, whose name appears in the middle of the quilt, married Rebecca Wright, whose name is in the lower left corner, in 1854.  They moved to West Liberty, Iowa where Rebecca continued to teach school. 

Of special interest is the name of Mary Payne, who was the daughter of Kitty Payne. Kitty was a freed slave living near Bendersville in July, 1845, when she and her children, including Mary, were abducted by slave-catchers and taken to Virginia, where they were kept for a year while Adams County Quakers fought in court for her freedom. When they were finally freed, they returned to Adams County and Mary went to live with the Joel and Ruth Wright family. Other names of interest on the quilt are those of Louisa Steer and Elizabeth Stone, abolitionists from Loudon County, VA.  Louisa's name appears in the Women's Meeting minutes in July 1851, saying that she had visited Menallen with a "religious concern."