Cornell-Wood coverlet has links to early technology

Elaine Engst, archivist and director of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, and Charlotte Jirousek, associate professor and head of the costume collection in the Department of Textiles and Apparel, display the Cornell-Wood family coverlet given to the university by Margaret Cushman Ledbetter. Robert Barker/University Photography

By Linda Grace-Kobas

A woven Jacquard coverlet recently acquired as a gift by Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC) has links not only to the family of university founder Ezra Cornell but, fittingly, to the earliest "computing" technology.

The coverlet was given to the university by Margaret Cushman Ledbetter of St. Louis, Mo., who also gave a letter written by Ezra Cornell in 1831 to his father (see story in Feb. 11 edition) and a medal from the New York State Agricultural Society. Ledbetter inherited the items from her adoptive parents, Franklin C. and Cordelia Cornell. Franklin Cornell (1866-1934) was Ezra Cornell's grandson. Ledbetter said she was prompted to give the items to the university by her old friend William B. (Barlow) Ware, who recently retired from University Development.

"Peg used me as a conduit," Ware explained, "because she wanted to send the items where they belonged. I contacted archivist Elaine Engst to see if she would be interested in getting these things, and she was."

"I'm delighted that these items are now at Cornell," Ledbetter said. "I felt very strongly about the fact that these things should be there and not at home. They should be enjoyed by more people than just our family."

The blue-and-white coverlet is an exceptional piece, in very good condition for a much-used woven item that is more than 100 years old. Ledbetter said she used it on her bed for a long time, and later her husband kept it on display in his study. Luckily, their cat is declawed.

The coverlet's design of geometric trees and flowers is reversed on each side. In one corner is woven "Elmira Wood 1831." Engst, who is director of RMC, was unsure of how to interpret that, until Ledbetter revealed that her family always believed that "Elmira Wood" was Mary Ann Cornell's sister. Nancy Dean in RMC tracked down a genealogy of the Wood family and confirmed that detail.

Charlotte Jirousek, associate professor of textiles and apparel and head of the costume collection, examined the coverlet and provided more information.

"The coverlet is a Jacquard-woven double weave and is a type of coverlet that was very fashionable around [Central New York] in the mid-19th century, certainly something you would find in a nice dowry," she explained. "Jacquard coverlets were only woven for a relatively short time, between the 1820s and the 1840s. This one is fairly early. They were woven mainly in Pennsylvania and New York."

The jacquard loom was invented in France during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, Jirousek explained.

"It is a mechanical device that permits a weaver to produce very complex designs quickly. It operates using a set of punched cards and is therefore the first ancestor of the computer," she said. Jacquard designs were out of fashion before the middle of the 19th century, she added, as new textile mills began to produce goods that were not only more "stylish" but cheaper.