Genealogy Data Page 4 (Notes Pages)

For privacy reasons, Date of Birth and Date of Marriage for persons believed to still be living are not shown.

Robbins, Hiram (b. 1812, d. 30 NOV 1881)

Death: 30 NOV 1881

Change: Date: 13 APR 2002

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Trimmer, Catharine (b. 12 JAN 1816, d. 28 MAY 1902)

Note: ** Catharine Trimmer, born in 1816 was a third cousin, of
Margaret Ann Trimmer, wife of George Nixon, III,
great-grandfather of President Richard Milhause Nixon.
Catharine won many awards for her handwork at the county fairs.
She left a family heirloom; a blue and white Liberty Coverlet
into which she wove her name and date of 1836 in the corner.
THE JACQUARD COVERLET A French weaver by the name of Joseph
Jacquard invented a very sophisticated type of loom that first
arrived in America about 1820 and was operated by hand with the
flying shuttle. The Jacquard attachment could be added to the
looms already in use for Double Weave coverlets, and thus the
mechanization of weaving had begun. Jacquard's invention
consisted of a series of cards much like keypunch cards with
large and small punched holes that activate the harnesses of
the loom (as many as forty) and make the pattern. These cards
resembled the music rolls used in a player piano. The Jacquard
loom made it possible for weavers to create large unseamed
coverlet with handsome and complicated patterns. Elaborate
borders became a distinguishing feature of this type, and the
corners thus created gave the weaver a space in which to
include his name, the name of the owner, and often the town,
county, state, and date of weaving. Because of this we possess
much precise information about the period and provenance of
Jacquard coverlets. A coverlet is different from a quilt. A
quilt is a bed cover that is made from many remnants of
pre-made fabric that have been sewn together. Coverlet (from
the French 'couvre-lit') meaning 'to cover the bed', is a woven
process that uses a loom. Typically coverlets have a blue wool
warp that makes up the longitudinal length of the piece and a
white (linen) weft that makes up the latitudinal length.
'Double Weave' coverlets are very intricately made. One side
dominates in blue and the other in white. They are called
'double-weave because in between the stitches you can literally
pull the layers apart. The continued use of hand-spun and
home-dyed wool for the weft permitted some feeling of handcraft
in the earliest Jacquards, but they later became very
mechanical. Hand weaving continued along with machine weaving
in rural areas up to the time of the Civil War. Undoubtedly
there were many pattern books available for the Jacquard loom,
because many borders and motifs such as rosettes, urns, and
eagles were used repeatedly. However, there is also a great
deal of individuality to be seen in these coverlets, and the
collecting of Jacquards is endlessly fascinating because of the
variety of designs. Weavers became very proficient and could
'punch' their cards so as to satisfy their personal design
whims and also those of their customers. It was a favorite
pastime of the weaver, after he had finished his work, to study
the pattern and try to give it an appropriate name. It often
happened, of course, that the same pattern could acquire
several names in different communities. Catharine Trimmer was
an accomplished weaver who won many prizes and awards at the
county fairs. The pattern she chose for this coverlet was
known as Double Weave Medallion with a smaller Tile Motif
pattern in between the pattern rows. It has the Eagle and
Liberty border. Catharine made this coverlet in June, of 1836
and it is now (1993) in better condition than many on display
in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D. C. [shrope.ftw]
Accomplished weaver who won awards at local and county fairs.
Our family owns a 'Jacquard' double weave coverlet with her
name on it. While it is possible she actually wove this, is was
uncommon for females to run and own complicated and expensive
looms such as the Jacquard. More likely her family had
professionals weave it for her. THE JACQUARD COVERLET A French
weaver by the name of Joseph Jacquard invented a very
sophisticated type of loom that first arrived in America about
1820 and was operated by hand with the flying shuttle. The
Jacquard attachment could be added to the looms already in use
for Double Weave coverlets, and thus the mechanization of
weaving had begun. Jacquard's invention consisted of a series
of cards much like keypunch cards with large and small punched
holes that activate the harnesses of the loom (as many as
forty) and make the pattern. These cards resembled the music
rolls used in a player piano. The Jacquard loom made it
possible for weavers to create large unseamed coverlet with
handsome and complicated patterns. Elaborate borders became a
distinguishing feature of this type, and the corners thus
created gave the weaver a space in which to include his name,
the name of the owner, and often the town, county, state, and
date of weaving. Because of this we possess much precise
information about the period and provenance of Jacquard
coverlets. A coverlet is different from a quilt. A quilt is a
bed cover that is made from many remnants of pre-made fabric
that have been sewn together. Coverlet (from the French
'couvre-lit') meaning 'to cover the bed', is a woven process
that uses a loom. Typically coverlets have a blue wool warp
that makes up the longitudinal length of the piece and a white
(linen) weft that makes up the latitudinal length. 'Double
Weave' coverlets are very intricately made. One side dominates
in blue and the other in white. They are called 'double-weave
because in between the stitches you can literally pull the
layers apart. The continued use of hand-spun and home-dyed
wool for the weft permitted some feeling of handcraft in the
earliest Jacquards, but they later became very mechanical. Hand
weaving continued along with machine weaving in rural areas up
to the time of the Civil War. Undoubtedly there were many
pattern books available for the Jacquard loom, because many
borders and motifs such as rosettes, urns, and eagles were used
repeatedly. However, there is also a great deal of
individuality to be seen in these coverlets, and the collecting
of Jacquards is endlessly fascinating because of the variety of
designs. Weavers became very proficient and could 'punch' their
cards so as to satisfy their personal design whims and also
those of their customers. It was a favorite pastime of the
weaver, after he had finished his work, to study the pattern
and try to give it an appropriate name. It often happened, of
course, that the same pattern could acquire several names in
different communities. Catharine Trimmer was an accomplished
weaver who won many prizes and awards at the county fairs. The
pattern she chose for this coverlet was known as DoubleWeave
Medallion with a smaller Tile Motif pattern in between the
pattern rows. It has the Eagle and Liberty border. Catharine
made this coverlet in June, of 1836 and it is now (1993) in
better condition than many on display in the Smithsonian
Institute in Washington D. C.