Red and Green Group

Cottonwood, Williamson Co.

Tennessee State Museum, Nashville

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Brown (1840-1887) was the first daughter of Alexander Brown and Charlotte Claud. Her father was a prosperous farmer in Cottonwood, Williamson County. Lizzie made her sampler in 1849 at the age of nine, possibly at a school directed by Mr. or Mrs. Runnells (Reynolds) in Williamson County. In 1854 and 1855 she attended Minerva College in Davidson County. Lizzie never married. She died in 1887 at the home of her brother Thomas Brown.

Lizzie’s sampler is smaller and less elaborate than her younger sister Sarah’s, worked in 1855 (TSS 002). The two samplers share a well balanced design and the same color scheme, including a vibrant orange. The sisters’ samplers are reunited in the collection of the Tennessee State Museum, Nashville.