Quilt

Artist/Maker
Atwater, Eleanor McCauley
Place Made
Orange County North Carolina United States of America
Date Made
1840-1860
Medium
cotton
Dimensions
HOA: 85 1/2; WOA: 72 1/4
Accession Number
3414.2
Description
MAKER: Eleanor “Ellen” McCauley was born in 1801 to Matthew McCauley (1750-1832) and Martha Ann Johnston (1760-1848) in Orange County, North Carolina. Matthew McCauley was an emigrant from County Antrim, Ireland, to North Carolina. He was a Lieutenant, 10th North Carolina Regiment, in the Continental Army. McCauley was also a donor of 150 acres of land for the founding of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Eleanor McCauley married Reverend Wilson Atwater (1797-1885) in 1819. The 1860 census verified Wilson and Eleanor Atwater enslaved twenty-two people.

DESCRIPTION: Pieced quilt design is a variation of the Carpenter’s Star pattern. On the center square, this quilt’s provenance and history are recorded: “Mary P. Judd gave it to Julia 1943/Eleanor Atwater 1800 great-grandmother made it/Julia’s great-great-grandmother Eleanor Atwater”.

Credit Line
Gift of Miss Julia Bristow