Albany auctioneer Mark Neal shows the Friendship Quilt that was discovered among the possessions of the late Dorleen McWhorter’s belongings by her children recently. The quilt, which has been donated to the Peolia United Methodist Church and has significant Clinton County historical value, will be on display this weekend during the Foothills Festival at the Cumberland Street office of local attorney David Cross.
Historic find to be displayed during Foothills weekend
It was stored in the possessions of Dorleen McWhorter, in immaculate condition. It was a quilt, with name after name stitched in the quilt blocks. Most were people from the Peolia area, or from the southern part of Clinton County.
A close inspection enabled us to determine about when the quilt was made. Lucille Hicks was listed as Lucille Cross; Nellie Mackey’s as Nellie Cross. Eddie Lovelace’s name is on the quilt, as was Billy G. Talbott’s, but Bill’s sister Wanda (born 1940) is absent. And certain politicians of that era were listed that might have had a vested interest of having their name included.
It was a Friendship Quilt, circa 1939. Friendship Quilts were common fund-raisers, done by various churches years ago, and might occasionally still be done in scattered places.
The ladies of the church (in this instance Peolia United Methodist Church) made the quilt, and folks could pay to have their names embroidered thereon. Or, if you stitched a quilt block, you could put your own family’s name thereon.
Undoubtedly, Dorleen’s father, Otto Cross (“By The Way” was his oft-used phrase), bought the final product at a church fund-raiser; his wife Sophie had surely helped quilt the masterpiece. Otto and Sophie were two of the most faithful of the Peolia flock. Sophie was a Ewing, raised near the Ewing School(before the Fairgrounds Road was the Fairground Road it was called the Ewing School Road). “Ewing” is a name that has passed from our county’s rolls, found only on maps as a branch southwest of Albany, and the locals still refer to the hill on either side as the Ewing Hill.
Other names thereon who have passed from our county’s roles include Nolan, Shoopman, Carr, and Denton.
The Friendship Quilt in question bears the names of many memorable folk and notable Clinton Countians. (See the complete list below). The vast majority have passed on, as the quilt was made some 74 years ago. There are only a handful of persons now living found thereon.
The names found thereon include Albany Postmaster W.E. Ferguson, Dr. S.W. Bristow, Kim and Mary Dot Sawyer, and merchants such as Jesse Booher, O.C. Delk, Porter Guinn and Mary Etta Langford.
Among the political names are “Jargo” Allen, who was then Sheriff of Clinton County, an imposing figure whose nickname came from his large frame’s similarity to a circus elephant; Carvin Ren-au, the county school superintendent; jailer Bill Craig; John Omer Dicken, the long-time circuit clerk; county clerk Logan Frost; and Senator Cloyd Farmer.
Years ago, churches, rural schools, and country stores all were focal points of rural neighborhoods. Now all the schools are gone, and the country store has nearly evaporated from the landscape in the last few years. People move around more; places get smaller. Peolia (which is actually a corrupted spelling of the village of Paoli, had a post office before Albany was established, with future Governor Preston Leslie as Postmaster) was once considered well out in the country; now the Albany Bypass loops around the town, creating a circle that takes in what old-timers still know as the Owens Place, the Perkins Farm, the Talbott Place, the Laura Delk farm, the Story Place, the Hopkins Place, the Jim Smith place, and other old reference points.
The days of the church raffle and pie supper, events where romances were kindled and sweethearts within the community impressed, are nearly gone. There are undoubtedly other Friendship Quilts stored away in trunks around the county, each of which could afford us a glimpse into the community at the time it was quilted.
Rex McWhorter and Judy Duncan are donating the quilt to the church that their parents and grandparents loved so much, and the quilt will be hung there as a reminder of the way things used to be, not just at Peolia, but throughout the land. The quilt will be on display in the window of David Cross Law Office during the Foothills Festival.
{Editor’s note: Our apprecation to Rex McWhorter and Judy McWhorter Duncan for donating this piece of Clinton County history to the Peolia Church, so that it and its historical significance can continue to be viewed in Clinton County. Also our appreciation to Albany attorney and historian David Cross for the research regarding this article and especially for the time in compiling and transcribing the names contained on the quilt, and in the following list.}
FRIENDSHIP QUILT NAMES
(Most, but not all, spellings are given as listed on the quilt.)
FIRST ROW, BLOCK ONE
HOWARD JOHNSON MAGGOLINE SELL LILbORN JOHNSON
MARIE JOHNSON GUINDLINE SELL MARY JOHNSON
BOBBY JOHNSON WILLIE ROBERTS
FREDA JOHNSON NANNIE ROBERTS
FIRST ROW, BLOCK TWO
ELDRED TAYLOR IVA PITTMAN EDWARD TAYLOR
BILL DUVALL ELVA FARMER RANDLE TAYLOR
BILL CRAIG ABNER BROWN
LOLA GIBSON ROBERT GROCE
FIRST ROW, BLOCK THREE
INA SUTTON MRS. KENADY J.P. TAYLOR
EULA WILSON TOMMY JOE MORGAN MILLIE TAYLOR
VACH CARR JIM FARMER
ROSCO CARR PORTER GUINN
FIRST ROW, BLOCK FOUR
ALVA EWING GLENN FERGUSON MARY GRIFFIN
MRS. OREN RENEAU STELLA FERGUSON LEO GRIFFIN
MRS. SWIFT HALL EWING
MRS. J.I. GRIFFIN MRS. J.C. EWING
FIRST ROW, BLOCK FIVE
DALLAS CAMPBELL CHRISTENE CAMPBELL ELDORA LEE
TENA CAMPBELL KENNETH CAMPBELL JACK FERGUSON
LILLIE SELLS IRENE CAMPBELL
OLETA SELLS KATHLEEN CAMPBELL
SECOND ROW, BLOCK ONE
JEAN MORGAN BESSIE MORGAN CLARA MAE MORGAN
DEAN MORGAN FREEMAN MORGAN MARY DOTT SAYWERS
J.W. BRYANT SHERLEY ROGERS
NOVA SELLS NANNIE MASSENGALE
SECOND ROW, BLOCK TWO
LEONA CROSS MARIE FARMER SOPHA CROSS
DORLEEN CROSS LUCILLE CROSS OTTO CROSS
ADDIE STOCKTON M.M. EWING
HERBERT STOCKTON NETTIE EWING
SECOND ROW, BLOCK THREE
HELEN WOOD CLAUD CARR CLARENCE DICKEN
ELSIE HARLAN EDNA HARLAN NORA HARLAN
ROXIE BUTTLER HULBERT PITTMAN
DAISY LOWHORN CHARLIE LOWHORN
SECOND ROW, BLOCK FOUR
LILLIE WARINER BAKER SELLS BEN HANCOCK
SUE MCWHORTER MRS. S.B. SELLS ROSE HANCOCK
JESSIE BROWN IMOGENE CROSS
MOLLIE STOCKTON GEORGIA SAWYERS
SECOND ROW, BLOCK FIVE
CORA SMITH GRANVILLE SHOOPMAN MAURICE DAVIDSON
NORMA DAVIDSON CAL THOMPSON DENNIS DAVIDSON
DORA LEE MATHEWS GERTIE MATHEWS
MARION PEARL MATHEWS ADDIE MARIE CLABORN
THIRD ROW, BLOCK ONE
OPLIS FLOWERS GARY LEE SUSIE COWAN
FLONNIE FLOWERS EDNA GARNER LEONA CROSS
VERBLE BROWN CARRIE CRAIG
DORA BERTRAM EULALINA MCGILL
THIRD ROW, BLOCK TWO
DAISY MATHEWS EMANA TAYLOR DEWEY LEE
ROB STOCKTON NELLIE JONES FREDRICK LEE
LANDO THRASHER RUBLE SHANKLE
NANEY SHIPLEY L.L. MCONNELL
THIRD ROW, BLOCK THREE
BERNICE JONES HAZEL FARMER HERBERT STOCKTON
REMA MATHEWS ARTENNIA WRAY ADDIE STOCKTON
ESTER GIBSON ROXIE PHILLIPS
ELMA HUDDLESTON NANNIE HONEYCUTT
THIRD ROW, BLOCK FOUR
EMMA STOCKTON EVELYN FELKINS PORTER GRIDER
JOHNNIE PITTMAN PEGGY WINNINGHAM GEORGE CARR
JIM SLOAN FRANCIS SLOAN
WANDA SLOAN JARGO ALLEN
THIRD ROW, BLOCK FIVE
JESS BOOHER GLENN DYER JULIA DICKEN
CORA SLOAN GENEVA SLOAN L.C. FROST
BRADLEY CARTER BARNEY LEE
ERMON CARTER GERTRUDE CRAIG
FOURTH ROW, BLOCK ONE
AMP LOVELACE EDDIE LOVELACE HOMER COWAN
FLONNIE LOVELACE BRYAN COWAN BESSIE COWAN
ZONA FERGUSON M.V. COWAN
WILLIE MAE SHERFIELD JUANITA COWAN
FOURTH ROW, BLOCK TWO
W.C. FARMER ERMEL CROSS MARY DOTT SAWYER
LAURA FARMER NELLIE CROSS KIMBALL SAWYER
ALLIE EWING ANNIE HARLAN
JOHN EWING ARTHUR HARLAN
FOURTH ROW, BLOCK THREE
MABLE GRAHAM FORIA WISDOM MELVIN DISHON
ETHEL SHECKLES GEORGE CARR EDNA DISHON
CLARENCE DISHON MARIE STOCKTON
NORA HARLEN JOHN B. SMITH
FOURTH ROW, BLOCK FOUR
ELMER FELKINS W.E. FERGUSON LILLIAN NOLAN
ESTHER BERTRAM W.H. VITATOE REBA EPLEY
DR. S.W. BRISTOW JOHN J. GRIDER
MARY E. BRISTOW MOLLIE GRIDER
FOURTH ROW, BLOCK FIVE
LOLA GIBSON STEVE GIBSON CLOYD FARMER
MOSSIE ARMSTRONG JARGO ALLEN LAURA FARMER
ED NORRIS J.W. SELL
EVA WRIGHT GEORGIA LEE
FIFTH ROW, BLOCK ONE
LIZZIE MASSENGALE O.C. DELK IMMA D. GIBSON
LANDO THRAHSER MRS. L. DELK W. LEO BROWN
PARADINE HUDDLESTON EDNA DENTON
OPAL TALBOTT HERSHEL STOCKTON
FIFTH ROW, BLOCK TWO
LIZIE CROSS CARRIE CRAIG BABY GENE WILSON
LETHA JOHNSON HALATINA THRASHER AUDRA MCWHORTER
SCOTT TAYLOR REBA PARMLEY
CARVIN RENEAU FRANKLIN HANCOCK
FIFTH ROW, BLOCK THREE
BOBBIE TALBOTT VERA TALBOTT R.H. TALBOTT
BILLIE G. TALBOTT JENNIE M. TALBOTT BEULAH TALBOTT
W.F. TALBOTT OREN THRASHER
MARIE TALBOTT RUBY TALBOTT
FIFTH ROW, BLOCK FOUR
SALLIE BOWLIN NORA ALLEN BILL STALEY
WILLIAM M. BOWLIN LILLIA SLOAN EVERETT JONES
MABLE FROST JOHN O. DICKEN
LOGIN FROST MRS. JOHN O. DICKEN
FIFTH ROW, BLOCK FIVE
EDWARD STORY STELLA BEATY LAURA FARMER
MARY ETTA LANGFORD JIM SLOAN GRANVIL GIBSON
DELLA WRAY OSEL BEATY
LIT JONES FRANK DUVALL