quiltersmuse.com Blog

When I think of myself, I often attach the self-appointed title of “Independent Scholar.” That is a designation for a researcher who works on discovering information, some of it never before analyzed or interpreted. Unlike academic scholars who are associated with an institution, my writings about my findings reach a very broad audience worldwide. In other words, they are not hidden in some obscure journal, or written in such high-falutin’ language that only a limited audience would understand or appreciate them. I like knowledge to be understood because I am forever and always a teacher.

More than 1 1/2 years ago, I embarked on a journey, one that would lead me to an intimate understanding of a woman whose life I have now written about, in detail. While researching the parameters of her 19th and 20th century life and its circumstances, I came to know her, her thoughts and feelings (as recorded in her letters and diaries), her family and their interests, anecdotes and origins.

It was fun to discover her living family members and have them visit me in my home, with ancestral quilts. It was absolute joy to be able to transcribe the notations on the mock-up quilt charts that she had made (that are now in a museum), and to discover that she’d written “McKim” and “LaGanke” and referred to other quilt historians of her time in notations that only I, as a quilt historian, would understand.

I would not have been able to learn anything about this extraordinary woman, had I not realized that her name had been misrepresented by a careless writer who worked at the museum that holds her priceless quilt charts. That mistake, unfortunately, has caused a lot of angst for a great number of people: museum officials who added the wrong name to other books they have printed; anger and angst for the family member(s) who knew about the mistake with the first publication of an article in 1997 that featured a few paragraphs about her and her work; and the mistake has caused shame to the scholar herself who misrepresented the name AND the two institutions who allowed her to present symposium papers under their jurisdiction.

For me, I have been frustrated beyond belief that this egregious error has not been admitted or rectified, but has been left to stand as truth. The International Quilt Study Center, a supposed bastion of the TRUTH and quilt scholarship, was notified early-on in my research that the abstract presented on their Symposium Papers page was wrong. Dead wrong. Besides the wrong name, the abstract contained other wrong information. The body of the abstract has changed a number of times. The name of the talk: “Patterns and Insights: Emily Webster” has not changed.

Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster is the New Hampshire woman who made the charts. She was a prominent woman of her day, involved in leading many clubs in her home town. Her husband was a dentist. She gave lectures in four different areas of interest, and after his death, she earned two degrees from Boston University and became an instructor at Wheaton College. She played organ and piano at the local church. Her life is extraordinary in every way and I wrote 355 pages to tell you about it, complete with 340 wonderful old photos and new photos of scenes and people from New Hampshire that figured into her life.

I have insisted on the TRUTH but have been met with a deaf ear. I don’t think that the fact that the “scholar” was vetted by a committee holds much weight. Committees have been known to be wrong, long before now. We don’t have to look too far back into U.S. History to discover that!

All I can promise you is that I will keep on repeating myself until the day I die. In fact, my dying words will probably be, “But, her name was never Emily. It was Ellen.”

Some people would not acknowledge truth if it was biting them in the butt. Of this I am sure, her name was Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster and of that I am 120% certain. The extra 20% accounts for my continued aggravation.

The scholar who made the mistake has admitted it. So … ????? Why not let the new myth stand in place, eh? Seems to be the trend!

September 24, 2009 – Patricia Cummings standing inside covered bridge in Campton, NH, former hometown of Dr. Clarendon P. Webster, Ellen’s husband.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

The Eastern States Exposition includes agricultural components: livestock shows and exhibits of vegetables, such as the “Great Pumpkin,” seen in the photo from 2007. Charlie Brown might be jealous! This year, the event will be held from September 18 – October 4, 2009. Mark your calendars!

This ESE file photo, courtesy of Eastern States Exposition, was taken in 2007 and shows a huge pumpkin! I can bet that a forklift probably was needed to transport it! We can only guess how many pumpkin pies that would make!

Ever since I was a child, I heard about the “Big E,” an annual enterprise that is sure to please the entire family. I believe my older brother, Steve, showed a heifer, or a cow, there. I would verify that with him, but he is no longer with us. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from the University of New Hampshire.

The “Big E,” its nickname, always hosts great music, rides, and exhibits. Features include vendors and food stands to suit anyone’s taste.

Here are a few of the quilts exhibited in 2007. Photo courtesy of Eastern States Exposition.

I recognize the pattern of the quilt, on the far right, as the one called, “Calico Garden,” designed by Florence Peto, noted quilt historian. I wrote about Mrs. Peto in my book, Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster (1867-1950), Her Amazing Quilt “Charts,” Her Writings, and Her Life. Mrs. Peto’s observed that it is not necessary to be didactic about nomenclature, when it comes to designating quilt block names.

My 355 page, 240 photo biography of Mrs. Webster, a New Hampshire quilt historian in the 1930s, is an e-book on CD. This is still available to order, on the products available page of our website.

As an aside, a number of simulated quilt patterns that Mrs. Webster made were based on quilts she saw at Eastern States Exposition and at Storrowton (a re-created old village with antique buildings moved onto the site. I wrote about Storrowton for my “Pieces of the Past” column in The Quilter magazine. Mrs. Webster was a quilt judge at some of those exhibitions, and my book has a list of the quilts and their origins upon which Webster based her work in saving quilt designs.

Click on this link for “Calico Garden,” and you will be able to see my re-creation of the same quilt, using Froncie Quinn’s pattern. My quilt is registered, as a reproduction, at the Shelburne Museum.

More information about the quilt, and ordering information for Froncie’s pattern, are located here.

Pumpkins seem to be the theme of my week. Please click link to read an interview with Anne Copeland, author of Pumpkins, Pumpkins (cookbook and more). I feel gleeful to see this other photo of a truckload of pumpkins at the ESE event in 2007. I am thankful to Eastern States Exposition for making these photos available for use in this press summary.

Please do go to the gala happenings this year, if you are in the area. The Eastern States Exposition is located at 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield, MA 01089. (413) 737-2443.

Patricia Lynne Grace Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
Concord, NH
http://www.quiltersmuse.com

Grandest Man Alive: The Story of Groton, N.H.’s Willard Hunkins by Roland M. Bixby, 2003, is a self-published book, in black and white, printed by True Colors Print and Design of Plymouth, New Hampshire. I ran across this title, whilst in the midst of studying the life of Ellen Webster.

Background information: Willard Hunkins was married to Mary Adeline (Hardy) Hunkins, sister of Ellen Webster. When she died of TB, leaving two children, in 1899, it was Ellen E. Hardy Webster and her husband who adopted Mary and Willard’s daughter, Gladys Mae Hunkins Webster. Presumably, Dana Hunkins, Gladys’ brother, remained in the care of his father.

Mildred Hunkins, Roland Bixby’s mother, is a child by a second marriage of Willard Hunkins and so, she was a half-sister to Gladys. Roland Bixby is, of course, the author of the book I mention above.

More than a year ago, I spoke with Roland Bixby, ever so briefly, when I was researching the life of Ellen Webster, quilt historian. I do not remember exactly how much I paid for his book but it was expensive for a volume with so many historical and typographical errors. I also found it to be demeaning of Ellen Webster, someone who was a highly-respected woman in all of her other circles, whether they be community, social, academic, or religious groups.

I have highlighted misspellings throughout the pages. By the way, there are no page numbers, chapter headings, or bibliography.

Ellen was born in Hebron, NH. Bixby mentions an early Hebron resident named “Nehemiah Hardy,” but this person does not appear to have any connection to her, genealogically, an idea that is confirmed by an historian who is well-versed in knowledge of the Hardy family, and who happens to be Ellen’s great-nephew.

Typical of the book are generalizations that begin with “It was said …” I say, “Who said?” – One example: “It was said that he (the author means Mr. Hardy – Ellen’s father) had a pretty wife as well as a pretty farm. And he obviously meant to keep things just that way.”

In the same vein, Bixby writes, “As one man wrote, “He (meaning Hardy) had his opinions.” I say, if this statement is in writing, why not divulge the source?

Consistently, Bixby misnames institutions. For example, he calls Monson Academy in Monson, Massachusetts – “Mascoma Academy.” I have copies of a number of letters that Ellen wrote from Monson Academy.

He refers to Ellen Webster’s brother as “Edwin,” when his name was really “Edward.”

In one instance, a photo of Elbert Currier, Ellen’s brother-in-law, is captioned as being “Dr. Clarendon Webster.”

The author refers to Ellen’s home in Franklin as “the ancestral home.” It is not. Ellen’s husband’s family was from Campton, NH and Ellen was born in Hebron, NH. If the word “ancestral” means that the home was owned by ancestors, then he is all wet. There are many errors throughout the book.

When he begins describing Ellen Webster, he provides information about her derived from a written source, not stated until the end of the chapter.

Clearly, Mr. Bixby does not like Mrs. Webster, or he would not have said the following:

Always in her lifetime, Ellen Hardy Webster seemed to be on the “upity” (sic) side, so it seemed to many N.H. natives. (Who?) Perhaps she was on a higher level than many of us rural folks – because her husband was such a successful and notable dentist, and perhaps because she was better educated than most. But it was her manner, that many noticed. …

But there was another side to Ellen Webster that was often overlooked. Married in 1893, she and her husband apparently did not choose to have children. (Who says? – Maybe they couldn’t have children). When her younger sister, Mary Adeline, wife of Willard Hunkins died, … Ellen and her husband took the notion to adopt and raise Gladys, which they did. Ellen and her husband doted on Gladys and she went to the finest of schools and became a successful teacher and museum professional.

The author attacks Ellen Webster for not having visited his mother, Mildred Bixby of Warren, NH, or Ellen’s brother-in-law, Willard Hunkins. Well, Ellen lived in Franklin, at the time, not just a hop, skip or jump to Warren, a not journey that could have been completed on foot.

Ellen Webster enjoyed Nature and would have loved these daisies.

The reader should keep in mind that Ellen never drove a car and she relied on others to transport her anywhere she went. To study in Boston, she took the train. In her day, trains and buses were the most common forms of transportation, not personal vehicles, unless they were sleighs or carriages, still in use when she was born in 1867. Certainly, Ellen must have been shocked with all the technological changes, including the use of cars, as she did not die until 1950.

This book, Grandest Man Alive, is supposedly a tribute to Willard Hunkins. I do not understand how tearing down Mrs. Webster has anything to do with elevating someone else to be honored. In fact, when Willard Hunkins died, Ellen provided a lengthy discourse about how wonderful he was.

The old (mainly family) photos in Bixby’s book, although of poor reproduction quality, are certainly of interest, as are some of the stories.

A word to any would-be book writer: any book loses credibility, from the start, when words are misspelled, captions are wrong, and facts are incorrect. It is also a shame that the author, in this case, could not put aside his apparent jealousy of Mrs. Clarendon Webster, (Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster), and concentrate on all of the good she did for her family and community. Actually, I wonder why she is included in this book, at all, as she is not directly related to the Hunkins.

Having looked closely at Ellen Webster’s life and all of her many activities, I would agree with Bixby that she functioned at a “higher level.” This was due, I believe, to her intelligence, inquisitive nature, and interest in people, love of teaching, and care for the natural world. I really don’t understand why everyone who has written about her, other than me, has misrepresented various facts about her life, even down to her very name, calling her “Emily” when that was never her name, and then attempting to blight Ellen further with slurs, or sloppy scholarship, i.e. inaccurate descriptions of her work.

The Truth Will Always Have Its Day!

Happily, my book tells a very different story, and has a focus on the beauty in Ellen’s life: her love of wildflowers and birds; endearing, wonderful stories of her childhood; information about her family of origin, a tight knit, hardworking unit, very religious, and consummately New England, with roots in England; and of course, her later work as a published writer, a dedicated quilt historian, and a college professor.

By the way, the New Hampshire Historical Society no longer offers my biography of Ellen Webster for sale in their museum shop. They do not have the staff or resources to continue to reproduce the product. We are happy that our efforts provided them with the ability to sell 59 copies for $24.95, plus $7.95 shipping, all of which revenue they were allowed to keep, as our donation to their ongoing educational efforts.

Cover of our CD that contains photos of all of the quilt charts made by Mrs. Ellen Webster to preserve quilt history. She was one of a small band of 1920s/1930s quilt historians who were the first women entrepreneurs to give talks about old quilts, work as quilt judges at exhibitions, write quilt-related books, or be published in newspapers. Her circle of colleagues are covered on the pages of the CD.

To continue to make this 355 page/ 340 photo e-book on CD available, we will continue to print new copies, as requested. The price is $24.95 plus $3.95 shipping ($28.90 total). Please see our “Products Available” page to order with a Paypal payment, or write to: pat@quiltersmuse.com to make a different financial arrangement. Our book is scholarly, yet is an enjoyable read. It is fully-documented, factual, and it was a joy to create! The old photos contained therein, and information, heretofore not found elsewhere, is invaluable, especially to teachers, historians, quilt historians, and quilters.

With Joy in my Heart for having written a Comprehensive Book about Mrs. Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster, I remain,

Patricia Lynne Grace Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications