
Region: Middle Tennessee
1834 Emily W. May
Dorcas Giles Hunt, Teacher
Mr. and Mrs. Hunt’s Female Academy
Gallatin, Sumner Co.
171⁄4"V x 221⁄4"H
© TSS 106
fibers: silk and wool
ground: 24 V/28 H ct linen
fibers: silk and wool
ground: 24 V/28 H ct linen
Biography:
There were two Emily Mays, one a child and one an adult, in Sumner County in 1834. The daughter of William C. May and Christiana McDaniel (1826-1840) is the most likely candidate for the sampler maker. William C. May was a farmer in District 5 of Sumner County. Emily died in 1840 at the age of 13. She is buried in Gallatin Cemetery, Sumner County.
Description:
Mr. and Mrs. Hunt’s Female Academy in Gallatin was founded by Rev. Henry W. Hunt, a Methodist circuit rider, and his wife Dorcas Giles Hunt in 1830 or 1831. Plain and ornamental needlework were offered at no additional charge. The school was only in business a few years. It may have been absorbed into the Gallatin Female Academy, which received its charter in 1835 when Rev. Hunt became its principal.