The Marion quilt will join another name quilt, the Waterloo quilt, formerly stored at the Briggs-Lawrence County Public Library.

Saturday, November 27, 1999

The Marion quilt will join another name quilt, the Waterloo quilt, formerly stored at the Briggs-Lawrence County Public Library. Its owner, Margaret LeMaster of Oregon, gave the quilt’s possession to the historical society for display.

"Quilting is a lost art and it’s living history," Milem said.

And quilts have warmed generations of Lawrence Countians on breezy winter nights.

The historical society’s two stitched relics will remind future generations of their heritage, he said.

"My main objective is to give as many people as want to the opportunity to see the quilts."

Names like Phillips, Nace, Null, Campbell, Patterson, Bennett, Dilley, Kitts, Shafer – names from pages and pages of local history – adorn the Marion quilt.

The Waterloo quilt, originally owned by Mrs. LeMaster’s grandparents William and Cora Phillips, was made about the same time as the Marion quilt. Among its many names is James Wilson’s, the last of four Civil War veterans from that era.

Also, on the Marion quilt, many stores that no longer exist – Home Dry Goods Co. of Ironton and Goldcamp’s Hardware, for example – put their names down in thread, Milem said.

The names tie the county together, historically and genealogically, so what better way for residents to learn than to look, he said.

"It’s just my personal way to preserve a little history."

The historical society will hold a quilt show this spring, probably at the Lawrence County Museum in Ironton, where the quilts will be displayed, Milem added.

There also are tentative plans to take the quilts on the road, he said.