10 Dark blue with red, very worn – Wool

Size: 3′ 3″ x 6′ 6″.    (39″ x 78″)

This rug was owned by the Woolverton family (Peter’s mother’s family) and traces back to his Great-great-great grandparents’ plantation in Mississippi.  We don’t know the dates.  The couple was born in 1814 and 1829  This is as close as we can get to the origins.

We got this info from Peter’s mom, who was told the same by her mother and grandmother.

Peter’s great-great grandparents, great-grandparents and grandparents were from Alabama and tended to keep many items from Peter’s great-great-great grandparents and those items were all referred to as being from the Mississippi plantation.  The only family who lived in Mississippi were his great-great-great grandparents and they were the only ones who had a plantation.

So, this seems to mean the rugs belonged to Captain Thomas J. Woolverton (1814-1867), who played an important role in establishing trade via steamboat to the Clarke County (mainly, Enterprise and Stonewall areas) Mississippi….if that matters.  The Captain stopped planting (farming) to start steamboat lines and is alleged to have freed his slaves in the process.

Thomas’ wife was Mary Horne Handy, whose father, John, bought most of the original land that is now Clarke County and established planting and trade and the small towns in the area.

Several other items from his great-great-great-grandparents were kept and given to Peter’s mother, who does love rugs and other antiques, so that also makes us think this info seems accurate.

There are a series of rugs from this family and none of them have ever been appraised that Peter and his mother have seen.  They all show some signs of wear.

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The Photos:

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Detail: