The Gen Project

Last week, this blog featured the needlework of Harriet B. Trimble - this time we’ll take a look at one of her talented sisters, Esther B. Trimble, known to all as Hettie. Born in 1819, Hettie was the youngest of the six Trimble daughters and was best known in her later years for her esteemed graperie in West Chester. So well-known in the area were Hettie’s grapes that they won first place at the Philadelphia Exhibition in 1876.

The medal is solid bronze and is about 4 inches in diameter and about a quarter inch thick. It even has its own velvet-lined case of leather. Here’s the reverse side:

Reverse of Medal

Hettie’s grapes were also the subject of a painting that is lurking around here somewhere. Once I locate the painting, I’ll add a picture of it as well.

Hettie died in 1873 and is buried at Oakland Cemetery in West Chester.

Sometimes the proof of a particular lineage takes some unusual twists in the road and may not always be found in the usual sort of places.

One of my ancestors was Christiana Hill, the daughter of John Hill and Mary Hunter, and the wife of George Brinton. Their daughter Jane married Joseph Trimble and the had six daughters, one of which was Harriet who was quite handy with a needle. Two pieces of her needlework have been handled down through my mother’s family for many, many years, coming to rest in my house some years back. One of these is a sampler done in 1810; the other is a rather odd piece, at least by today’s standards.

Yes, it is a picture of a girl leaning on a gravestone. Harriet’s initials, HBT, appear in the lower left corner of the piece, actually painted on reverse side of the glass covering the piece, and the date of 1818 appears on the right. As Harriet is not my direct line ancestor, I don’t really need to prove her lineage from Christiana, but if I did, this picture would work to do so, as can be seen more easily in the close-up view of the work.

Needlework Detail

I can just imagine how entertaining it would be to include this photo in a set of documentation to prove Harriet’s descent!