Antique Quilt

Here's the antique quilt I mentioned in an earlier post. I'll just type in the provenance that I was sent, and I'll let you all decide when it was made. I will not post the person's name from whom I purchased it, but she is speaking in first person in this note. The quilt is in remarkably good condition except for some slight fading on the green sashing, and a couple of seam separations on the backing, all small and easy to fix. It is nicely hand quilted. I purchased the quilt in August, 2004 for less than $200.
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"Elisha Ladd (from Connecticut) settled in the town of Hounsefield - Jefferson County - N.Y. State in 1812. He had five children one of which named Nathan, came to Hounsefield in 1811 and was the first settler on a farm on Road 76 (now Co. Rt. 63). He had four children one of which was a son Elephalet. He married Charlotte Spaulding of Camillus, N.Y. (Onondaga Co.) And they had one son Marshall and resided on the family farm on Road 76. Marshall married Lydia Hall from the town of Hounsefield and they had two children Brayton and Charlotte.

"When we moved to our farm (where we reside now) in 1973 we met Charlotte - our two farms butted each other. Charlotte had lost her husband Harold and had no children, just several cousins who were also elderly. She lived on the farm all but four years of her life. When she was a newlywed she and Harold lived in Potsdam, N.Y. In 1917 a tragic train/car accident took the lives of her mother, father and brother. She and her husband moved back to the farm to care for her great aunt Mary (maiden lady) till her death in 1925. Charlotte who was born in 1891 passed away in 1982 - one week short of her 91st birthday.

"She and I became great friend (more like Grandmother/granddaughter) and being neighbors my husband I looked after her. She was a vital, active and energetic lady and a 'wealth' of knowledge. She told me her Great Aunt Mary and her Grandmother Ladd made this quilt. How they use to wash them and lay them out on the grass to dry. As you can see four generations lived on this farm."
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I'm sure the quilt is not valuable, but it's real special to me. It affords me the opportunity to view mid to late 1800 fabric up close. Also I'm holding a piece of quilters' lives here, feeling the stitches they put in the quilt, and am benefiting from the care the quilt was given. I always say a little prayer for them when I hold it.

My gratitude today: My family members who tell me they think of me every time they touch the quilt I made for them.