Dorchester Illustration 2516 Sampler by Hepzibah Clapp
Today’s illustration is a sampler created by Hepzibah Clap, when she was 10 years old in 1808. A sampler was meant to showcase the needlework of a girl as part of her educational accomplishments.
This sampler exhibits three alphabets, the second with numerals separated by decorative lines.
The sampler features a stylized floral border, a willow tree and a message:
Blooming beauty soon will fade
Earthly pomp will pass away,
But the mind enrich’d with grace
Has charms which never will decay.
Education
Tis education forms the common mind
Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclin’d.
Wrought by Hepzibah Clap, Dec. 21, Aged 10, 1808
Hepzibah Clapp Sumner was born September 4, 1798 in Dorchester Massachusetts. Her parents owned property on both sides of what is now Hamlet Street. The eldest of thirteen children, she married Benjamin Lathrop Sumner on March 11, 1824. His occupation was patent medicines. They had five children. She died August 29, 1880 and is buried in the North Burial Ground.
The family genealogy, the Clapp Memorial Record, was compiled by her brother, Ebenezer Clapp. Their father, Ebenezer, was the youngest son of Noah and Ann Clapp.