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Checkered cloth

Checkered cloth Cotton, indigo dye
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Cotton, indigo dye by unknown maker, New England, late 18th or early 19th century

91.7 cm H x 78.7 cm W

Fabrics 036


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[ This description is from the project: Fashioning the New England Family ]

A simple vernacular blue checked rectangle with initials “LD”  is connected to the family of William Dawes who rode from Boston to Lexington on 18 April 1775. Dawes was recognized for his encouragement of locally-made rather than imported, textiles.

Hannah Dawes Goldthwaite Newcomb, daughter of William Dawes and Mehitable May, lived in Keene, NH, and operated a home shop system, paying several local women to spin and weave textiles for neighboring mills.