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Today, we did something that is always fun to do. We walked through a small country cemetery. I love to read epitaphs. Often, there is some endearing tribute or religious sentiment on very old stones. On several that we saw today, the words simply said, “Gone home.” It is amazing to see that only a rock marks some graves.

Walking through the cemetery, I paused to squint at one inscription when all of a sudden, the song of a chickadee in a nearby shrub, pierced the air, startling the silence. Some of the stones had been laid flat by the force of wind or weather. A couple of the fragile marble stones had broken into two pieces and had been hinged back together. Lichen growth was heavy on many granite stones, to the point that any writing, including names, was obscured.

Jim discovered this stone that is a tribute to a Civil War soldier.

Rufus L. Leavitt died …
in consequence of inhuman treatment during an imprisonment of 5 mo. in Salisbury, NC – 26 yrs, 1 mo.

Jim walked through one half of the cemetery and I walked through the other. I found exactly what we were seeking, to follow up on a most interesting story of humor shared recently by New Hampshire’s own humor writer, Rebecca Rule. I hope that it will be in her next book!

This particular 50 year old man may have earned the right to be called a “pillow” (of the community).

I was so pleased that Jim found the headstone of the town minister about whom I’d read so much. Likewise, I was elated that he located the headstone of the grandparents of an important woman (Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster) whose life I have chronicled. Their names are Ichabod Packard Hardy and Emeline Mary Webster.

This is the gravestone of Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster’s grandparents. Ellen’s middle name is the same as her grandmother’s first name. I wrote a 355 page biography of Ellen last year. Ellen’s married name was Webster, and it only coincidental that her grandmother’s maiden name was also “Webster.”

So much history to be found in New England, which is why I love it here. I can’t imagine going anywhere else to live. In being able to view the actual gravestones of once-living people, I realize how important (and nice) it is to have a final resting place. Somehow, it proves that you were “here.” For me, it makes the names of people I’ve read about in print seem like old friends. Yes, I do love old cemeteries!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

The seven photos of Civil War reproduction quilts that are shared in this blog entry today represent quilts made by Donald Beld of California. They simulate actual “Sanitary Commission” quilts that were made in the North and sent to Union soldiers in the field.

By the way, Don founded the “Home of the Brave” program that re-creates and distributes reproduction Civil War quilts to families of U.S. fallen military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The quilts are made by volunteer quilters from across the country.

In support of the program when it first started, I supplied information to The Quilter magazine, (May 2005 issue). At the time of publication, only four original Sanitary Commission quilts were known to be extant. Since then, several more quilts of this type have been discovered. Most of the approximately 250,000 that were sent off to war from the North are lost to history.

Don is a retired hospital administrator who makes quilts with connections to history. He enjoys hand piecing but acknowledges the limitations of his mortal stay on this planet. In order to finish more quilts, he now seeks the help of a machine quilter, 50% of the time, to do the actual quilting stitches that hold the layers of a quilt together.

He loves to quilt by hand and has hand-quilted all of these Sanitary Commission quilts. As Civil War quilters would have done, he applies bindings to each quilt, in the same manner. Whenever he can, he uses authentic period fabrics, but finds the fibers so weak that he has to “tie’ the quilt in lieu of “needling” it.

The quilts shown are from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. As you will see, Don Beld’s work is a total inspiration!

This quilt made by Don Beld simulates one that was made in Florence, Massachusetts.

Close-up of the Florence, Massachusetts Sanitary Commission quilt reproduction made by Donald Beld

Sanitary Commission quilt first made in Vernon, Connecticut; reproduced by Donald Beld

Close-up view of reproduction quilt; this quilt was first made in Vernon, CT.

Civil War quilt reproduction of a quilt first created in Brandon, Vermont

The last of four quilts shown in this file originated in Dublin, New Hampshire:

All photos seen in this file were taken by, and provided by Don Beld, to whom they are copyrighted. We have his permission to publish them.

Photo-edits were done by Patricia Cummings.

Please do not copy any of these photos to any other site for the purpose of publication, but please do tell others to enjoy them here at: http://quiltersmuse.com/blog/. Of course, you may print a copy of this page for your own personal study. Thanks!

To learn how to make a quilt in the same pattern as the Sanitary Commission Quilt located at the A.K. Smiley Public Library, Lincoln Memorial Shrine, Redlands, California, please see this file: Civil War Reproduction Quilt The original was 48″ x 84″ to fit a soldier’s cot.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

For step-by-step directions to make your own Civil War reproduction quilt, please see our reinstated file at Quilter’s Muse Publications that has more photos of possible color combinations. In the hope that the wars overseas would be ending pronto, I had removed the original file that contained these directions that I had personally written and that have been used by the Home of the Brave project and state coordinators ever since that program’s inception.

The quilt is old. The directions are new. Some folks (state coordinators) chose to make their own examples in their own color choices to show on their website. I have not checked lately but many of these quilts have been made for the families of fallen soldiers. Donald Beld, a friend, quilt historian and hand-piecer/quilter, who lives in California, initiated the Home of the Brave program.

To get the ball rolling, I wrote an article that was published in The Quilter magazine. Both Jim and I sincerely hope that the quilts that volunteers have made for this charity project will be appreciated, for truly, they are gifts from the heart, just as our directions and publicity (and quilt blocks) have been.

Don has located six “Sanitary Commission” quilts, made by northern ladies for the soldiers in the field. One can only imagine how many quilts of this type were used in the battlefield to cover the wounded and dead. The surviving ones are located in various places, one or two in private ownership. He may have found a seventh quilt, and is still looking into that possibility.

Isn’t it amazing that even today we are still recovering information from centuries past, seemingly, at the speed of lightening? Of course, any findings about old quilts are especially exciting to me! I hope you enjoy the revised file!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

I am in the mood for Irish music this week so have just posted two more songs: “The Rising of the Moon,” and “Mrs. McGrath.”

You will see that a lot of traditional Irish ballads have “war and turmoil” at their center. It is heartening to know that I come from a sturdy race who were not afraid to stand up for themselves.

When I posted the term “Fighting Irish,” yesterday, Jim had to look that up. He found a number of references including current sports teams, especially the football team at Notre Dame. Other references include the Irish regiments who held back General Robert E. Lee’s forces at one of the major Civil War battles. It is speculated that Lee himself gave them the name, based on their ferocious and brave fighting, no holds barred.

The etymology of words and terms is most interesting and I provide that knowledge, whenever I come across it, as you will see in another of these Irish music files.

If anyone has any photos of Ireland that they can legally share with me, please send them to pat@quiltersmuse.com and I will add them to these music files. I would especially appreciate landscapes, seascapes, and photos of architecture.

Enjoy!

Happy to be Irish,

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

Tonight, I learned more about banjos than I would have ever considered possible. Eric Bye of Vermont presented a program about 19th century music, with a focus on banjos. An amazing fact is that later in that century, banjos were made in such a way as to simulate other instruments, and there was the phenomena of “banjo orchestras,” with one banjo sounding like a piccolo; another (called a banjatar) had six strings, like a guitar, etc.; and all banjos were made in different sizes. The banjo went from having four strings to having five strings, over time.

Eric played a minstrel tune called “Circus Jig” to start off the program. With only one song, did he accompany himself with voice, although he has a very pleasant voice! He gave a wonderful overview of banjo music throughout the nineteenth century, and used two banjos, including one that he made himself, throughout the concert. The humidity was affecting his banjos a great deal and causing them to be out of tune, so he would stop and re-tune them.

Eric Bye, playing the banjo in Bristol, New Hampshire on June 25, 2009

One cannot fully appreciate American music without knowing what was happening at the time. Eric Bye filled in a lot of historical details. He remarked about the number of songs that came out of the Civil War period. He played a song from that era called, “Tenting on the Old Camp Ground,” on a boombox that he’d brought with him. The song, for which the New Hampshire Historical Society possesses an original copy of the sheet music, as seen in a recent exhibit, was written by Walter Kittredge, a New Hampshire resident. The sentimental tune was made famous by the Hutchinson Family Singers of Milford, NH. A live rendition of the song was shared by Steve Blunt, a presenter in this lecture series, whom we had the pleasure to hear a few weeks ago, and about whom we also wrote a blog entry.

The banjo and the fiddle once were considered “the devil’s instruments.” The banjo was mainly used by African-Americans on the plantation before being taken over as a preferred instrument of minstrel shows. The presenter explained that by the end of the century, and beyond, mainly people with money were playing the banjo, quite a transition.

This combination history lesson and concert was fascinating. I will say no more so as not to “give away” the whole program. Suffice it to say that it is understandable why Eric Bye has been invited back to give his presentations since 1990 in Vermont for their Humanities Council programs, and for the last five years in New Hampshire. In his real life work, he is a linguist/translator who is fluent in French, Spanish, and German. He has translated more than 100 books, primarily non-fiction and scientific titles. It appears that he brings a passion to his work and to his “play.”

We certainly enjoyed every part of tonight, except the heat and humidity over which no one had any control. This has been a fun week. We have gone to three of these programs on consecutive nights, and in diverse parts of the state of New Hampshire. We are blessed to live in the Granite State (”where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and the children are above-average!”). Even though we are pretty selective, we do let Vermonters visit us, now and again!

Thanks to the organizations in Bristol, and the NH Humanities Council, for sponsoring this event. Most of all, thanks to Eric Bye for a wonderful program!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications