Westbury LI Quaker Bowne / Hicks Leather Sewing Roll-Up Case
Elegant leather wallet-form sewing roll-up lined in a cocoa colored silk satin, with built-in pin cushion and pocket, and embroidered wool pages.
The interior has 3 wool page needle cloths with hand sewn binding, an interior gathered silk pocket for holding needle packets, inner leather box case holding thimble, strawberry, and waxer.
Gilt monogram: J.H. Bowne
Hand written label: Rachel Hicks. Westbury. L.I. N.Y.
Rachel (Seaman) Hicks grew up among the Westbury Orthodox Friends in Westbury, LI. "In the Hicksite/Orthodox split that took place in New York Yearly Meeting in 1828, only a year after her husband’s death, she chose the path of his uncle; her own father, however, joined the ranks of the Orthodox." She became a respected Quaker minister, working to reinvigorate faithful cultivation of inner light thru "meetings" and travel.
"Her ministry carried her at first around her native Long Island, then in wider and wider journeys reaching into upstate New York and then the Ohio Valley and as far west as Iowa — all by horseback or horse-drawn carriage, facing frequent hardships along the way."
The Hicks and Bownes (another historic Nassau lineage) were interrelated, but I've been unable to find direct connection between several JH Bownes and Rachel. Both families gave generously to the Flushing Meeting House.
The case possibly belonged to Jemima Honeywell Bowne, a Quaker who was the same age as Rachel. Maybe she included the handwritten label as a distinction of her friendship with Rachel??
Needlework historian, Stacey Whittaker, suggests "Seeing that Jemima's married name was Bowne, were you thinking that this was made for her after her marriage? That would preclude its being a schoolgirl piece"
"My first thought, looking at this piece was that 'J.H. Bowne' was a man. That is based only on instinct - no facts. But could it be that this was a man's pocketbook that was re-purposed for use as a needlebook by Rachel? Just an idea."
Rachel Seaman Hicks
Birth: 10 Apr 1789, Westbury, Nassau, NY
Father: Gideon Seaman (5 Dec 1744 - 27 May 1837)
Mother: Elizabeth Keese
Spouse: Abraham Hicks (16 Jan 1791 - 8 May 1827)
Death: 13 Apr 1878
Burial: Westbury Friends Cemetery Westbury, Nassau, NY
Memorial ID: 109905595
Quaker minister, Rachel (Seaman) Hicks
SIZE:
Unfolded: 11.75" L x 4" W x 7/8" H
CONDITION: leather surface in good condition, but does have cracked surface. Binding trim has loss, particularly at folds. Interior wool pages have loss. No silk ties. No repairs or alterations.