Houses in Wool Group

Versailles, Rutherford Co.

Mary Ann Seay (1838-1910) was the second child of Eli Asbury Seay and Mary (Polly) Halstead. Her father owned a farm in the Versailles, Rutherford County. Mary Ann loved to read and was a teacher for most of her life. She married Isaac Shelby Webb in 1853, and they settled on a farm near Murfreesboro, Rutherford Co., where Isaac served as the county sheriff and later postmaster. They had five children. When her daughter Lockey died at age three, Mary Ann’s grief was so great that she wrote a poetic verse about the child every day until what would have been the girl’s fourth birthday. The next daughter born was named Lockie in memory of her deceased sister.

Mary Ann’s checkerboard flower basket, distinctive floral border, and vibrant color scheme identify this sampler as originating in Middle TN. Strong family history names her as the maker and records the year she completed it.