Shelbyville Female Academy

Shelbyville, Bedford Co.

Catharine Donnelly (1824-1903) was born in Ireland, the daughter of Peter Donnelly and Elizabeth (Eliza) Dwyer. Peter Donnelly opened a mercantile on the square in Shelbyville, Bedford County. Catharine was sent to the Shelbyville Female Academy in Bedford County where she stitched her sampler. In 1845 Catharine married Thomas Hamilton Jameson. The couple moved to a farm near Millersburg and Christiana, Rutherford County. They had eight children; their first born son died in infancy. Catharine and her children continued to live on the farm after her husband died in 1863. Catharine died in 1903 and is buried in the Jameson Cemetery near Christiana.

Catharine’s simple marking sampler would have been worked in the beginning embroidery class.