Description:
Corner chair or roundabout chair with a rush seat, which was sold to a dealer in 1973 by a family descendent, John Preston (1916-1989). According to Preston's letter dated Jan. 2, 1973 (see object file): "The chair came to me from the Estate of my mother, Bertha P. Ames Preston, to her from her mother, Sarah F. Ames, who had inherited it from the estate of her grandfather, Samuel Thorndike Woodberry, who was born in Beverly, Mass. in 1786. My grandmother, Mrs. Ames, told me that the chair was part of the furnishings of the Woodberry Homestead in Beverly, a picture of which I have. Since the Woodberrys were among the first settlers of the Town, in 1630, it probably has been in the family ever since it was made, whenever that was. I have no information as to its exact date of purchase or manufacture, nor do I know who made it, but I should imagine it must have come from some chairmaker in Beverly." The first Woodberry did come to Beverly around 1635. Samuel Thorndike Woodberry, Sr. (1749-1797) was born in Beverly, married Sarah Lawrence (1756-1817), and had eight children. They moved to Jeffrey, New Hampshire, about 1778. Their son, Samuel Thorndike Woodberry, Jr. (1786-1860) was born in Camden, Maine, and died in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He married Mary "Polly" Whitridge (b. 1793) in 1817, and had three children, including Sarah W. Woodberry (1823-1862) who married Thomas Bancroft Preston (1813-1862) and had five children. Their daughter Sarah Preston (b. 1846) married Henry F. Ames in 1872. Their daughter Bertha Preston Ames (1878-1941) married William Arthur Preston (1873-1946) in 1905. Bertha and William Preston had three children including and their son John Preston (1916-1989) who wrote the letter regarding this chair. The center rear leg is sugar, or hard, maple, and the proper right end of the arm and the proper left arm support are red, or soft, maple.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2003.25.10 |
