“Historical Society Objects on Loan”

Carroll County Times Article for 12 November 1995

By Jay A. Graybeal

Several objects from the Historical Society’s collection are now on temporary loan to area museums. The Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore has borrowed two objects, a doll and an earthenware bowl, for their exhibition “SANKOFA: A Celebration of African-American Arts & Crafts, 1790-1830.” Both objects will be displayed in a special section of the exhibit that deals with objects made in Maryland. The carved wooden doll said to have been made in the 1830s by a slave member of the Woodyard family who had been trained as a tailor. The Hazard M. Clark family donated the doll to the Historical Society in 1963. Former Historical Society researcher Brad Griebel interviewed Mr. Hazard Clark’s son, Franchard, in 1985 and compiled a report on this interesting doll.
Mr. Clark’s father, Hazard M. Clark and his grandmother, Josephine Chapelle Thomas, collected dolls. Mr. Clark would repair the dolls and often painted framed shadowbox scenes to house the dolls. Mrs. Thomas made clothes for the dolls if the original clothing was in non-repairable condition. Ruth Woodyard, a Black Carroll Countian, worked for the Clarks. She lived in a log cabin where there was a row of log cabins all lived in by Black families. These cabins were located on a hill behind Little’s farm, almost in New Windsor. Ruth Woodyard gave the hand-carved wooden male doll to the Clarks with the stipulation that it remain in Carroll County. Ruth told Hazard Clark that the slave who made the doll had been in the Woodyard family. She said the slave was a tailor and had made the doll for his daughter or granddaughter, while still a slave. The trousers are original; Mrs. Thomas made the other clothes, using the under jacket original as a pattern. The top coat was Mrs. Thomas’ idea. The doll has flattened shot for the eyes.
Also loaned was a redware bowl made by slaves of Samuel Wareheim at his brick yard between Pleasant Valley and Frizzelburg. This modest bowl was made of local red clay also used to make handmade bricks. Its survival documents that some local slaves were either trained or learned how to make craft items. Redware was a cheap, utilitarian kitchen ware which remained extremely popular with local residents, especially those of German descent, well into the late nineteenth century. The bowl was donated by Mrs. Sterling Hively in 1959.
The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington, D.C., borrowed two objects for their exhibition, “Talking Radicalism in a Greenhouse, Women Writers and Women’s Rights.” Included in the exhibit will be the Margaret Buckey patriotic quilt made in 1857 and a two-drawer work or sewing table she used. The quilt was featured in the Society’s 50th Anniversary exhibit and was loaned in 1994 to the Baltimore Museum of Art for their “Maryland Public Treasures exhibit. Miss Buckey chose a number of patriotic motifs for her quilt. A large spreadwing eagle, surrounded by thirty stars and a floral border, dominates the center of the quilt. Above the eagle are crossed, thirteen-star flags, a small hand holding the scales of justice and a pole surmounted by a liberty cap. A floral border and smaller eagles in each corner complete the design. The Historical Society received the quilt in 1982 as a bequest of Vivian Englar Barnes.

The early nineteenth century cherry work table given to Miss Buckey by her father on her tenth birthday, February 4, 1847. The gift is documented by a nineteenth-century pencil inscription on the back of upper drawer. Miss Buckey’s table is made of cherry with mahogany veneer on the fronts of the drawers and dividers. The choice of a local hardwood, rather than imported mahogany, suggests that the table is the product of a local cabinentmaking shop. The table was undoubtedly used by her when she made her quilt in 1857. The upper drawer contains a front section with three divided compartments for storing small sewing items. The rear of the top drawer and the full lower drawer provided space for larger items. It was donated by Dr. Donald Buckey Bond in 1995.

Once the above mentioned exhibitions close, the loaned objects will be returned to the Historical Society. Hopefully, their display will have enriched museum visitors who, otherwise, might not have seen these objects and learned about their part of our history.
Photo caption: A hand-carved wooded tailor’s doll made by a member of the Woodyard Family near New Windsor in the mid-nineteenth century. The head, hands and shoes are carved and painted; the eyes ___ made of lead__ shot. The doll is currently on exhibit at the Maryland Historical Society as part of a temporary exhibition entitled, “SANKOFA: A Celebration of African American Arts & Crafts, 1790-1830.” Historical Society of Carroll County collection, Gift of the Hazard M. Clark Family, 1963. Photograph by Porterfield’s Photography.