Upholstered wingback commode chair has four turned Sheraton legs. Has replacement of original soiled handsewn homespun linen (remnants in this file), now an orange fabric with potted and vining flower design. Solid pinewood seat under cushion has center hole with fitted removable wooden disc.
This chair was from the Pownall home at Gap, where it was used by Dickinson Gorsuch, Maryland slaveholder, during his recovery from wounds sustained during the Christiana Riot of Sept. 11, 1851. His father and two others were killed during the skirmish at the home of freedman William Parker, and Dickinson was transported to the Pownall home for recovery. William Parker later published his story in the "Atlantic Monthly" in 1866, making it highly publicized.
This incident "is an important example of the struggle over the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act and the escalating tension between the North and the South. This act gave slave owners broad powers to recapture runaway slaves". (ExplorePAhistory.com)
Polaroid photos of chair before re-upholstery, in file.
Likely Lancaster or Chester Co.
Provenance
Provenance: Chair owned by the Pownall family & given in 1973 to the Lancaster County Historical Society by Mrs. Levi Pownall of Lancashire Hall (569-7279).
It was initially loaned to the Heritage Center (# L.77.9 and # 161.64.80) but soon donated to HCLC. Board minutes of Dec. 8, 1975 include Richard F. Smith's Museum Committee report noting a donation of a "Sheraton armed wing chair commode, used by the Pownall home in nursing Dickinson Gorsuch following Christiana Riot in 1851." Later unsigned note (Bruce Shoemaker?) states John Aungst of LCHS was consulted & chair was removed 11/9/84 from list on LCHS loan form, settling an apparent question of ownership.
Pieced quilt of silks, cotton batting, glazed cotton back, cut in 2 halves, made by Quaker Deborah Simmons Coates, wife of Lindley Coates (1794-1856). Has 19 horizontal bands of dress silks (many produced by Harmonist Community) in alternating triangles arranged in Birds in the Air or Flying Geese pattern using the template method. Large triangles of varying patterns alternate with large triangles with 3 smaller appliqued triangles of contrasting patterns. Colors are browns, tans, beiges, electric and royal blue, peach and green. Each quilt half has a green silk binding on the three outside edges, and tan silk on the inner vertical cut edge. Quilting patterns are clamshell, diamond, cross in a square and diagonals.
At quilt center is a cream-colored triangle with an abolitionist stamp depicting a kneeling enslaved Black male in chains over the words: "Deliver me from the oppression/ of man." This stamped triangle was cut in two when quilt was divided; image now hidden by modern binding. According to Cuesta Benberry research, this image of a kneeling enslaved person originated with the English ceramic firm of Wedgwood in the late 1700s. See items 08.242 and 42.76.11 in the collectiosn of Metropolitan Museum of Art for seals with a similar motif. The Wedgwood family were ardent abolitionists, decorating various ceramics with this image, resulting in its rapid adoption by American anti-slavery groups. Used in many forms and media over the years, it remains the logo of the still-existing Pennsylvania Abolition Society and appears on organization's official publications.
Lindley and Deborah Coates, of West Grove, Chester Co., married there on 12/16/1819 but lived near Christiana in Sadsbury Twp., Lancaster Co. They attended Sadsbury Friends Meeting House near Christiana. Ardent abolitionists, their home was what is now designated station #5 on the Underground Railway. Lindley became President of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1840, before William Lloyd Garrison. Deborah Coates became a Hicksite Quaker minister according to historian Beverly Wilson Palmer. Hicksites were the more radical Quakers, named after leader Elias Hicks.
Provenance
Quilt passed to son Simmons (1821-1862) & wife Emeline Jackson. (Deborah Coates lived w/ widow Emeline on her Chester Co. farm (Evergreen Hall in West Grove) for many years following Simmon's 1862 death. See census records). Descent to their daughter Elizabeth Jackson Coates who married Marriott Brosius, U.S. congressman from Lancaster. The quilt was then divided between their two daughters, donor's maternal grandmother Graceanna Brosius Biddle and her sister Gertrude Coho Reinhartson. The two halves were then reunited when given to donor, Marjorie Ayars Laidman. Deborah S. Coates was donor's great great great grandmother.
Overall good condition. Two halves of quilt (with recent inside binding on cut edges) are "mounted" on cotton muslin, side-by-side. Silks show significant deterioration -- cracking, splitting and abrasion -- with some losses. Binding also has deterioration with some losses. (See 1985-86 condition report by conservator Linnea Davis.)
Documented in Quilt Harvest #448-B (records in Archives).
Object ID
G.86.05
Place of Origin
Sadsbury Twp.
Credit
Gift of Marjorie A. Laidman, Heritage Center Collection
Pennsylvania Long Rifle; percussion cap; curly maple stock; iron barrel stamped "H. GIBBS" on top of barrel. Brass fittings and patch box. Some rust on iron and brass parts. Approximately .40 caliber muzzle. 44" barrel with an overall length of 61 inches.
See notes for information on Gibbs.
Provenance
Purchased by donor (Walt Dunlap) at auction in Lancaster County in 1956.
Henry Gibb Sr. and his son Henry Gibb were Lancaster City gunsmiths active for most of the nineteenth century. The father from 1812 until 1843 and the son from 1843 until 1880.
Place of Origin
Lancaster
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Corn knife used by one of the Black resistors in the Christiana Riot on September 11, 1851. Wrought iron long curved blade of 19.5" is fitted into oak or ash turned handle rounded terminal end. Tang of blade extends through length of handle and protrudes at terminal where it is clinched.
The Christiana Resistance resulted from the efforts of a Maryland slave holder to claim fugitives hiding in the home of Willam Parker, a free black man living in Chritiana, PA. This corn knife was used by one of the black resistors during this confict. The bloody confrontation, occurring in September of 1851, resulted in the death of Edward Gorsuch, the slaveholder, and the escape of William Parker and the fugitive slaves to freedom in Canada.
Deed to Wheatland on parchment. Indenture for purchase of Wheatland by James Buchanan from William Meredith and Catherine Meredith. Dated December 2, 1848 with seal of William Meredith and of Catherine Meredith. Not signed by James Buchanan. Some fold marks and stain
Conservation proposal by Lancaster Galleries (Fine Art, Custom Framing, Restoration) June and July 2001. Quote to suface clean, mount, glaze to prevent fading, and seal.
Passport for Samuel Ashmead, June 25, 1846. Signed by James Buchanan. Framed between two pieces of glass with narrow black wooden frame. Two small metal eye hooks with picture wire at top of frame.
Provenance
Samuel Ashmead was a botanist from the Germantown, PA area. He was the donor's husband's great-great grandfather. Passport hung in the donor's husband's grandfather's house for as long as she could remember.
Framed between two pieces of glass. Top right corner has 2 rips in paper caused by humidity and too small of frame. Paper has been folded into fourths with small hole at center of sheet. Also folds horizontally into thirds. Brown spots or stains all over
Object ID
W.MSS07.4.2
Place of Origin
Washington, D.C.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Dispatch case of Major John Hubley; walnut construction.
On top, inlay shell in an oval with green background, all within an 2 fine-line band border. Metal outlined key on front center. 2 movable metal handles, one on each end. Entire wood panel in lid folds out to reveal a mirror secured by a swivel tab. A metal ring for pulling panel down/ Circular inlay designs on green background in center of closed lid portion. Intricate spiral adorn edges of all 8 sections and green felt-lined tray. 2 narrow divisions hold slide-in tops with metal pull rings fit into compartment. Portion that holds 2 small drawers can be lifted out to reveal .5" storage area. The entire lower portion can be lifted out. Bottom covered with black felt.
