Worked in 1817 by Deborah Marston of Parsonfield, Maine, this sampler comes to us with verbal provenance as it has been passed down in the Marston-Dodge family. Deborah was born on 26 Oct 1805 to Simon Marston and Mary (Doe) in Parsonfield, Maine where she married Cressy Dodge in 1819. They had 6 children. The 1860 Census shows them living in Parsonfield with Deborah's mother and younger sister. Cressy's profession is listed as "farmer".

This visually striking, eye-catching sampler has wonderful Folk Art appeal and demonstrates the imagination as well as the needlework skill of our 12 year old samplermaker. The stunning format features 2 giant intertwined hearts at the top and a fabulous folk art house on a grassy lawn at the bottom. Two birds and two huge trees which are different from each other flank the house. The lawn, windows and right tree are stitched in vibrant aquamarine silk that is extremely lustrous, as is the inner sawtooth and outer sine wave border.

Besides the alphabet the sampler contains a verse using some archic letters that reads as follows:

How blest the maid who circling years improve
Her God the object of her warmest love.
Whose useful hours successive as they glide
The book the needle and the pen divide