A Daughter's Remembrance of a Mother's Love and a Mother's Sorrow
Some of the family tales behind quilts of the Old
Aurora Colony speak to the personal sacrifices associated with the
founding of the Colony- including the poignant story of Anna Maria
Miller Hewitt who, following the wishes of her older brother Samuel,
left her husband Elias Hewitt in Ohio to join Dr. Wilhelm's communal
group at Bethel, Missouri to follow a vision and a dream. Anna Maria
took her daughter Lydia with her but tragically the three older children
remained with their father.
In 1863 Anna Maria
and Lydia Hewitt came to the "New Eden" in the Pacific Northwest at
Aurora with other members of the Miller family including her niece
Caroline Miller. In 1868 Caroline married Jacob Bauer and in 1869 gave
birth to her daughter Lydia Bauer who she named after her cousin Lydia.
Caroline, however, died in 1872 whereupon cousin Lydia Hewitt married
Jacob Bauer and raised her Lydia step-daughter Lydia as her own.
Stepmother Lydia Hewitt Bauer eventually made this artful and brightly colored quilt in memory of Caroline Miller.
Wrapped up in this
family drama and possibly stitched into this memory quilt is how in
1883 the now grown Isaac Hewitt renewed contact with his long lost
sister Lydia Hewitt and their still living mother through a letter.
One can only
imagine what the letter contained that would break a decades-old silence
but if you are lucky enough to be one of just sixty people to have
tickets to "If Our Quilts Could Talk- Stories of the Old Aurora Colony
Quilts", you will find out what Isaac has to say!
As part of Aurora Colony Historical Society's 50th anniversary, we've added something very special to our 41st annual quilt show:
"If Our Quilts Could Talk: Tales of the Old Aurora Quilts". This is
a performance of five vignettes built around five Old Aurora Colony
quilts. The performance will be on Saturday, October 12 at 5 pm in the
Museum The special admission price of $20.00 for this performance
including admission to the Quilt Show. Seating for "If Our Quilts Could
Talk" is very limited so be sure to call the Museum for ticket
reservations and more information:503-678-5754.
There's going to be a lot of fun and exciting things to see and do at our upcoming 41st annual quilt show Celebrating Our Golden Memories October 11-20. We look forward to welcoming you.
Sponsored by the Aurora Colony Historical Society - Celebrating 50 Years 1963 - 2013
"Preserving the Past for the Future"
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