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Region: East Tennessee
1808 Charlotte S. Roulstone
Knoxville, Knox Co.
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville

1534"V x 1612"H © TSS 111
fibers: silk
ground: 34 V/30 H ct. linen
Biography:
Charlotte S. Roulstone was the second of five children born to George Roulstone and Elizabeth J. Gilliam. Her father was Tennessee’s first printer. At the request of Territorial Governor William Blount, George Roulstone came on horseback bringing his printing press with him. He became Knoxville’s first Postmaster, Clerk of the Southeast Territory, Clerk of the General Assembly of Tennessee, and a Commissioner of Knoxville. After George Roulstone’s death in 1804, Charlotte’s mother Elizabeth was appointed State Printer, making her the first woman to hold a public office in Tennessee. Little Charlotte died in 1808 at the age of ten.
Description:
Charlotte must have completed her sampler shortly before her death, based on the signature line:

Charlotte S Roulstone A 10

Her verse is from “To Richard, Earl of Burlington: With Ovid’s Art of Love” by Samuel Garth (1661-1719).

Instead of gold let gentle truth
endear
She has most charms who is
the most sincere