Lemira Watts Yarnell, Teacher

Knoxville, Knox Co.

Historic Bleak House, Knoxville

Elizabeth (Betsy) Jane Armstrong (1826-1899) was the first of child of Addison Wear Armstrong and Nancy Jane McMillan. Addison was a farmer with property valued at $3,000 in the 1850 census. Betsy’s husband, William Shannon (Shaun) Anderson, was also a farmer. The last census to record the Andersons was in 1880. By that time they had adopted a young girl by the name of Rose James and were the parents of seven other children. Both Betsy and her husband are buried in the Anderson-Gouffon Cemetery in Knox County.

Betsy’s sampler is now on display in Historic Bleak House, her cousin’s home. Her sampler is very accomplished, with cross, cross over one, eyelet, partial eyelet, four-sided, hem, herringbone, and rice stitches. Lemira Watts Yarnell taught Betsy; the closeness of their relationship survives in a letter attached to the back of the sampler.