Saunders Ferry, Sumner Co.

Historic Rock Castle, Hendersonville

Alethia Saunders (Sanders) (1820-1898) was the daughter of James Saunders and Mary Ann Michie Smith Donelson, the widow of Samuel Donelson. A lawyer, James Saunders was so interested in education for his daughters that he sent Alethia’s half-sister all the way to the Salem Female Academy in 1805. She was the first girl from Tennessee to be admitted.

The floral border on Alethia's sampler is also found on a group of samplers from the Carolinas. Pat Veasey's article, "Samplers of the Carolina Piedmont: The Presbyterian Connection and the Bethel Group," published in the Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts describes this group and their connection to Tennessee.