Red and Green Group

Francis Elizabeth Hulme (1828-1854), who sometimes went by the name of Elizabeth, was the first daughter born to Henry Clayton Hulme and Lucy Anderson Wright. At the end of 1851 Francis married Milton A. Byers, a shoemaker, with whom she had two daughters. She may have died from complications of the birth of her daughter Frances Elizabeth.

Francis Elizabeth was an adult, aged 22, when she completed her sampler. She married later that year. It is clear from the quality of her stitches that this was not her first sampler. Her advanced age, her choice of learning cloth for the ground fabric, and her ambitious design indicate she may have been a teacher making an example to guide her students.