Mary P. Stabler's Sampler

This sampler features six block alphabets: five of 26 letters and one double. All the rows are separated by simple geometric crossbands. Mary Stabler’s sampler is an example of a marking sampler that consisted predominately of alphabets and numbers, and was usually the first sampler a young lady stitched. Alphabets were used to mark linens for identification. Mary included the inscription:

“Mary P Stabler’s
Work
Aged 11 Alexandria”

The sampler is stitched with silk and cotton embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 28, weft 29/in. The stitches used are: cross, crosslet, four-sided, double cross, rice, Algerian eye, queen, and herringbone.

Mary Pleasants Stabler was born on January 30, 1809, to Edward and Mary Hartshorne Stabler in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1835 she married John Leadbeater and they had eight children - Edward S., Lucy, Mary G., Alice, Anna, Alice, William, and Thomas. Mary died on August 9, 1863. See her daughter Anna Leadbeater’s samplers.

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