Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object |
Quilt |
Date |
ca. 1891 |
Description |
Unfinished crazy quilt. Top layer only. Made of irregularly cut pieces of silk in a variety of colors and patterns. Stitched with fancy stitches with threads of different colors. Incorporated in the design are several Bennington, Vermont silk badges including: Dedication of the Bennington Battle Monument 1891, FMTAB Society of Bennington, General Stark, and one Committee badge for the Dedication of the Monument 1891. One square has a red silk rectangle with the letters R.E.G. painted on, for Robert E. Guiltinan for whom the quilt may have been made. There is one 1890 GAR Badge from Troy, New York. The Guiltinan family is from Bennington, Vermont with ties in Troy, New York and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. FMTAB is the Father Matthew Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society. |
Width (inches) |
62.000 |
Length (inches) |
62.500 |
Subjects |
Father Matthew Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society (Bennington, Vt.) Grand Army of the Republic |
Information |
In his twenties, Robert E. Guiltinan moved from his family home in Bennington to Schenectady, New York where he worked as a machinist with General Electric. His initials "R.E.G." are painted in the block on the upper left edge. Quilts were a traditional gift for young men leaving home to seek their fortune and were often made by elderly female relations. Unfortunately, this quilt was never finished. The quilt includes silk ribbons from Bennington, Vermont and Troy, New York. "FMTAB" stands for the Father Mathew Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society. Fr. Mathew was an Irish priest who encouraged a binding pledge to totally abstain from all alcoholic beverages. He was enormously influential in Ireland and among Irish-Americans in the United States. The two temperance society ribbons would have reminded young Robert to beware of the temptations of alcohol. |
Related People |
Guiltinan, Robert E. |
Credit line |
Gift of Rev. Henry F. Madigan, OFM Conv. |
Catalog Number |
1987.93 |