Union Female Academy

Triune, Williamson Co.

Nancy Livonia Jordan (1832—1853) was a daughter of Thomas B. Jordan and Sophia Reavis Hyde. Her father was a farmer in the Triune area of Williamson County near the border of Rutherford County. Nancy likely made her sampler at the Union Female Academy in Triune as it is similar to other samplers made there: Mary Halfacre’s 1850 sampler (TSS 008); Sarah Elizabeth Angeline Andrews’ 1850 sampler (TSS 055); and Mary Jane Stevens’ 1859 sampler (TSS 016). Nancy married Benjamin Forsythe Ransom in 1848. Her husband also owned a shop in Murfreesboro. The couple lived on a farm in Bell Buckle, Bedford Co. where they had two daughters. Nancy was related to two other sampler makers in Middle Tennessee: Lamisa F. Jordan (TSS 154) and Mary Portis Ransom (TSS 088). Nancy is buried in Jordan Cemetery, Eagleville, Rutherford County.

Nancy's inscription reads:

I sigh not for beauty,
Nor languish for wealth,
But grant me kind Providence:
Virtue and health.
Nancy Livonia Jordan's
Sampler July 31 1846
Williamson County Ten

Her verse is drawn from The Search After Happiness: A Pastoral Drama in Three Dialogues by a Young Lady, by Hannah More (1745–1833), first published in 1808.