Cross-stitch sampler by Anne Thomas, Wales, 1864. We’re continuing to recap our top 12 posts of 2012. #10 is this needlework sampler from the Waukesha County Museum, which was stitched by Anne Thomas of Wales (United Kingdom) in 1864. Anne’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth came to Wisconsin in the 1890s, joining other relatives who had previously settled in the Waukesha area.  When we first posted this sampler in July, a follower in Wales shared a rough translation of the Welsh verses: “When I bow my head to dieLet me see your blessed loveSee the open heavensThe son of man to the right of the Father.  Smile upon me Lord of GraceOn the shores of the blue river of deathGive your lovely presenceAs I leave this world for the next.”   via: Waukesha County Museum by way of Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database
View Separately

Cross-stitch sampler by Anne Thomas, Wales, 1864.

We’re continuing to recap our top 12 posts of 2012. #10 is this needlework sampler from the Waukesha County Museum, which was stitched by Anne Thomas of Wales (United Kingdom) in 1864. Anne’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth came to Wisconsin in the 1890s, joining other relatives who had previously settled in the Waukesha area. 

When we first posted this sampler in July, a follower in Wales shared a rough translation of the Welsh verses:

“When I bow my head to die
Let me see your blessed love
See the open heavens
The son of man to the right of the Father.  
Smile upon me Lord of Grace
On the shores of the blue river of death
Give your lovely presence
As I leave this world for the next.”  

via: Waukesha County Museum by way of Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database

Source: content.wisconsinhistory.org

Cross-stitch sampler by Anne Thomas, Wales, 1864. This needlework sampler, which includes two verses in Welsh and one in English, was stitched by Anne Thomas of Wales. Anne’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth came to Wisconsin in the 1890s, joining other relatives who had previously settled in the Waukesha area. The first Welsh immigrants to Wisconsin arrived in 1840.  via: Waukesha County Museum by way of Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database read more: Sadie Rowlands Price, “The Welsh of Waukesha County,” Wisconsin Magazine of History 26:3 (1943) UPDATE: beccatoria provided a rough translation of the two Welsh verses on the sampler. Anyone happen to recognize the source material? “When I bow my head to die Let me see your blessed love See the open heavens The son of man to the right of the Father.   Smile upon me Lord of Grace On the shores of the blue river of death Give your lovely presence As I leave this world for the next.”  
Pop-upView Separately

Cross-stitch sampler by Anne Thomas, Wales, 1864.

This needlework sampler, which includes two verses in Welsh and one in English, was stitched by Anne Thomas of Wales. Anne’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth came to Wisconsin in the 1890s, joining other relatives who had previously settled in the Waukesha area. The first Welsh immigrants to Wisconsin arrived in 1840. 

via: Waukesha County Museum by way of Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database

read more: Sadie Rowlands Price, “The Welsh of Waukesha County,” Wisconsin Magazine of History 26:3 (1943)

UPDATE: beccatoria provided a rough translation of the two Welsh verses on the sampler. Anyone happen to recognize the source material?

“When I bow my head to die
Let me see your blessed love
See the open heavens
The son of man to the right of the Father.  
Smile upon me Lord of Grace
On the shores of the blue river of death
Give your lovely presence
As I leave this world for the next.”  

Source: content.wisconsinhistory.org

Travel arrangements for Carolyn King from Europe back to the United States, 1900. Before high speed jets, Travelocity and Orbitz, Americans heading across the Atlantic booked passage on steamships by letter or telegram. This letter from New York travel agency Oelrichs and Co. to Charles King in Milwaukee discusses travel arrangements for King’s daughter, Carolyn King, on the steamship Kaiser Wilhelm II. Carolyn King studied at the Sorbonne in Paris for several years before returning to Milwaukee in 1900. via: Rufus and Charles King Collection, Carroll University
View Separately

Travel arrangements for Carolyn King from Europe back to the United States, 1900.

Before high speed jets, Travelocity and Orbitz, Americans heading across the Atlantic booked passage on steamships by letter or telegram. This letter from New York travel agency Oelrichs and Co. to Charles King in Milwaukee discusses travel arrangements for King’s daughter, Carolyn King, on the steamship Kaiser Wilhelm II. Carolyn King studied at the Sorbonne in Paris for several years before returning to Milwaukee in 1900.

via: Rufus and Charles King Collection, Carroll University

Aerial view of Wern Farms, Genesee, Wisconsin, 1926. This aerial view by photographer Warren O’Brien shows the numerous well-kept barns and outbuildings of a highly successful dairying operation. via: Waukesha County Historical Society by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
Pop-upView Separately

Aerial view of Wern Farms, Genesee, Wisconsin, 1926.

This aerial view by photographer Warren O’Brien shows the numerous well-kept barns and outbuildings of a highly successful dairying operation.

via: Waukesha County Historical Society by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

May Rankin’s notes on “The Moundbuilders of Wisconsin,” Carroll College, Waukesha, 1905. Handwritten notes from a lecture by Dr. Stephen Denison Peet in an American history course at Carroll College (now Carroll University). Raised in Wisconsin and educated at Beloit College, Peet published extensively on the subject of the Woodlands mound-builders, including Emblematic Mounds and Animal Effigies (1890) and The Mound Builders: Their Works and Relics (1903), both available through Google Books. via: May Rankin and the Carroll Players collection, Carroll University 
View Separately

May Rankin’s notes on “The Moundbuilders of Wisconsin,” Carroll College, Waukesha, 1905.

Handwritten notes from a lecture by Dr. Stephen Denison Peet in an American history course at Carroll College (now Carroll University). Raised in Wisconsin and educated at Beloit College, Peet published extensively on the subject of the Woodlands mound-builders, including Emblematic Mounds and Animal Effigies (1890) and The Mound Builders: Their Works and Relics (1903), both available through Google Books.

via: May Rankin and the Carroll Players collection, Carroll University 

Oakton Springs Hotel, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, 1886. The discovery of naturally-occuring mineral springs in 1868 spurred a tourist boom in the Waukesha area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Visitors flocked to grand resort hotels to experience the (purportedly) healing waters.   via: Waukesha County Historical Society by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections and Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database
Pop-upView Separately

Oakton Springs Hotel, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, 1886.

The discovery of naturally-occuring mineral springs in 1868 spurred a tourist boom in the Waukesha area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Visitors flocked to grand resort hotels to experience the (purportedly) healing waters.

 

via: Waukesha County Historical Society by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections and Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database

Our young trees in the new orchard were just one year old trees or whips, and many people laughed and some said those Swartz Bros. will be gray haired old men before they see any apples. If we live to be a hundred years old, it’s easy done to set out a one year apple tree in Wisconsin when you’re 95 years old and get drunk on the cider at 100 years old, squeezed from the apples grown on this one year old tree.

—Peter C. Swartz, letter to Frederic Cranefield, editor, Wisconsin Horticulture vol. 16, no. 11 (1926)

via: History of Wisconsin Agriculture and Rural Life, University of Wisconsin Digital Collections 

Jayson, Peter L., and Peter C. Swartz picking apples at Cornfalfa Farms, Waukesha County. Beginning in 1906, Peter C. Swartz and Jayson Swartz managed the farm first established by their grandfather in Waukesha County in 1844. The Swartz brothers became leaders in agricultural innovation and education in Wisconsin. Cornfalfa Farms’ earliest success was in alfalfa cultivation. Starting in the 1920s, the farm was also well-known for its high-yield apple orchards.  via: New Berlin Historical Society
Pop-upView Separately

Jayson, Peter L., and Peter C. Swartz picking apples at Cornfalfa Farms, Waukesha County.

Beginning in 1906, Peter C. Swartz and Jayson Swartz managed the farm first established by their grandfather in Waukesha County in 1844. The Swartz brothers became leaders in agricultural innovation and education in Wisconsin. Cornfalfa Farms’ earliest success was in alfalfa cultivation. Starting in the 1920s, the farm was also well-known for its high-yield apple orchards. 

via: New Berlin Historical Society

Top