The Quilt Of Elsabeth

There is a long history in America of people getting together, sewing hundreds of small pieces of cloth together and creating a beautiful piece of art. Quilts have been found going back to the first settlements on the North American continent. Then they were used for warmth but even then there was an artistic touch to them. Now, there are shows and exhibits all around the world and some of the pieces they present are worth thousands, if not millions, of dollars. However, there are still hundreds of thousands of quilts still hiding in closets, attics and basements. This story is about one of those…

There once was a cabin just outside the city of James Fort, Virginia. It was not part of the settlement. For some reason the person who built the cabin was chased from the colony immediately after the settlers made landfall. Whoever they were they did something to offend everyone in the town because, for some reason, their name isn’t listed among those who made the trip. It was ripped from the pages and possibly burned.

The cabin’s stone foundation and some of their possessions were all that were found when a group of students discovered the site in the early 21^st century. They did do the right thing and report the sight to the university who did a complete archeological study of the site, removed everything they could find and mapped the site as well as they could. But, once they left the students returned and did their own expedition.

They did not stay at the site of the foundation. They knew that was picked clean so they started searching farther and farther away. They did decide one thing. They knew where the colony was set up and they thought that there would be no way that whoever built that cabin would do anything back in that direction. Besides that…most times when someone built a cabin they often built a second smaller building where they stored the things that were of no use in the main house.

The colony was to the east so they started searching to the west of the site. Eileen Withrow, a senior at the university, seemed to be the one who took charge of the others. She led them into the forest and to a clearing about fifty yards from the site. It was almost as if she had radar or something because she led them to the far edge of the clearing where a large black rock was setting on the grassless ground. “Dig here,” she said. “Dig right next to that rock.”

They dug down about three feet and then, when they didn’t find anything, they started digging in a wider and wider circle. Eventually, they had a hole about fifteen feet across and three feet deep. “Go back to the center and dig deeper,” she said. “It is here. I know it’s here somewhere. I would stake my life on it.”

There was a sense of urgency in her voice so they did as she said. They dug another three feet down and started spreading out when suddenly there was a sharp clanging sound. It was a very distinct sound. They heard it before when they dug in one of their backyards and found a really nice metal box that was filled with rings, necklaces and bracelets. It wasn’t a big box but they sold the contents to a local jewelry store for a little over $200.

“There…keep digging there,” Eileen yelled. “That has to be it.” All of the people there were either staring into the hole or they were already starting to celebrate the treasure that they just found. But, the celebrations were not long lasting.

The first thing they hit was a small iron pot. It was sealed with a lid which was a surprise. They brought the pot to the surface. It took a couple minutes to finish pulling it out. For being as old as it must have been it was in surprisingly good condition. They pulled out a butter knife and pried the lid of. Pretty much everyone expected to see something, maybe some gold, hid inside but rather than gold the pot was full of dried bones. “Hell…,” someone said, “…at least we got here in time for dinner.” This made everyone laugh and lightened the mood for pretty much everyone.

Two of the people jumped back into the hole and started digging again. It was just about another two feet until they heard that sound again. This time all of them were more cautious with their celebrations. They dug slowly around the edges. It was a lot bigger than the pot that they had found and it was a rectangle rather than a circle.

They dug around the edges. It was big…really big. It took about an hour for them to dig down along the edges. There were a lot of guesses about what they had found. A number of them involved treasure but no one was actually willing to say anything for putting a curse on the find.

The more they dug the more of the box they could see. It was a dark wood…possibly a walnut. At one time there must have been a luster to it but the age dulled it. The wood was smooth and engraved with a cross that spread from one side of the box to the other. At each tip of the cross there was a brilliant red stone. They could see silver handles and hinges. The box, even though still half buried, was showing its beauty and the excellent taste of the person who owned it.

“Get it up here,” Eileen yelled. She wasn’t 100% percent sure it what she was looking for but her heart was beating hard and her breaths were shorter and faster than normal. “I want to see what it is.” Her voice was insistent and a bit scary but they did as she said and brought the chest up and set it on the grass next to the hole. “Open it,” she said as she walked over to it.

There was a big lock on the front. It was old and rusty so it should be easy to open. No one had a key, hell not one of them knew where to get a four hundred year old key so one of the men walked over grabbed a rock and smashed the lock into pieces. The whole chest shook as it was hit. They were nervous to do any more but they removed the lock and started opening the lid. It moaned and creaked as they lifted it but they did what they had to do to get it open. Once they lifted it up so far it fell backward. The hinges were strong and they held the weight of the lid.

“What’s in it,” a girl in the back asked. The same question echoed through the kids as they all moved closer trying to see what was in the chest. “Is there money,” she asked once again echoing what everyone was asking.

Eileen and a couple of the others walked over and looked carefully at what was before them. There was a leather pouch. It was black leather and had a little silver chain. Eileen opened it and found a piece of paper inside. It was aged and brittle and it had writing on it that looked a lot like the quill writing they used on the Declaration of Independence. The ink was no longer black as it was originally written. It was kind of a rusty brown. They knew that it was real and it was old. There were enough TV shows that had old signatures being sold that they knew what to look for.

Eileen took the paper gently in her hand and she started to read it. “To anyone who may find this may God bring all of his blessings upon you. I know that God is calling me and I have less than a fortnight to finish my business. I was cast out for not believing in the Holy Mother. I do understand their feelings although I do not understand their wisdom. I am leaving this chest for the daughter who was taken from me upon her birth. Please deliver this to her and have her complete the mission God has given me to perform. Other than that I have no other requests. If you honor me by doing the small task I ask of you then I shall be able to rest in Heaven in the arms of God.” It was signed Elsabeth Clarke-Worthington.

The paper was folded neatly and carefully and placed back into the pouch. They would take it to the university the next day after they found out everything about the chest and everything that it contained. They looked in and there was a wooden box that filled nearly half of the bottom of the chest. Two of the guys brought it up and set it next to the chest. This box was plain. It was walnut just like the chest but it didn’t have the silver pieces that the chest had. It has simple wooden handles and nothing else on its surface.

It opened easily. There was no sound or hesitation with the hinges. It just fell open. Inside was a quilt or maybe it would be better to say and half of a quilt. It was dark violet and black and the design was one called in modern day as a log cabin. A very basic design to say the least but it did have a strange beauty to it. Beside it were strips of material. There were dozens of stripes of linen with the same violent and black colors as the quilt. Along with all of that were homemade bone needles and the thread that must have been used on the quilt in the state it was in.

The rest of the chest had clothes, several cooking tools and yes, there were some coins. They were shillings and they were silver….tarnished beyond belief but they were still silver and they may be worth some money. A few had the face of King James I on them and then there were others that had the portrait of Queen Elizabeth I.

The only thing Eileen was the box with the quilt and the material in it. There was some connection to it that she didn’t realize and she wouldn’t have been able to understand if she did. Anything else…anyone there could split and do with what they wanted.

Eileen grabbed the letter and the box that held the quilt and she walked home. The others called to her but she just kept going.

Once she got home she read the letter. There was something about it and something about that box. She didn’t know how to sew so why in the world would she take a quilt? She always claimed that when it came to art she didn’t know a t-square to piece of chalk. Why did she take what she took? She wasn’t going to think about it. She was dirty and tired so she put the box and the pouch under her bad and then she went, took a nice long hot bath and, at last, got ready for bed.

The next morning she woke up late. There was no school so she had the whole day with absolutely nothing to do. The first thing she did, even before getting dressed, was that she dug out that letter and read it over and over again. Then she took the quilt out and looked at each stitch. She counted the stitches, looked at when they were sewn to get the pieces to fit and lastly she studied the pattern the material was sewn in. She looked at the quilt and the pieces again and thought to herself, how hard could it be?

She packed everything away, lifted the box and took it over to her grandmother’s house. She knew that she couldn’t sew by hand but maybe with a machine she just might be able to carry this off. “Grams,” she said, “I have to borrow your sewing machine.” Grams asked what Eileen was up to and Eileen’s answer was that she had a school project to finish before the following Monday. Grams agreed and gave Eileen some tips before she left for the day for a bingo tournament down at the church.

Eileen was all alone with a quilt that was well over 400 years old, some pieces of cloth and the faintest idea what to do next. She took two pieces of material. It was so fragile she didn’t put any pressure on it. She placed it under the presser foot. She decided that the old thread may be too fragile to be used so she loaded the machine with linen thread.  The first few stitches went well. The material flowed beneath the presser foot just like a new piece she would have bought at the Walmart.

Piece by piece they went together a lot easier and a lot faster that Eileen would ever have expected. The pattern seemed to make itself as she kept sewing. It was so beautiful she couldn’t take her eyes off of her work. By the time she was starting to feel hungry for lunch she was down to the last few pieces. She did stop to go down and make a cup of Ramen noodles. It was all she wanted. She wanted to hurry, finish and get back to work.

She went back upstairs after finishing her lunch. She sat at the sewing machine. There were only ten pieces left in the box. By now she was good enough to sew those pieces in less than ten minutes. She stitched each one so carefully. There was no way she was going mess it up…not now. The last few stitches went into place. The corners were perfect. The seams were all ¼ inch just like that woman on TV said they should be. After more than four centuries…Elsabeth Clarke-Worthington’s quilt was finally finished.

Eileen held the quilt up in front of a mirror smiling. “Elsabeth, I know you can’t hear me,” she said. “I know that I am not the daughter you wanted to fulfill your dream but I am the next best thing.” She started folding the quilt up to put it away when someone touched her on the shoulder. Eileen stood up and turned around. There was a woman standing just inches from her. She was dressed in period clothes. Although they were dirty it was easy to see that she was nobility.

“Young lady,” the woman started. “I do not know how to thank you. I have waited so long for that quilt to be completed. Now my wandering soul may finally be at rest. Please know that I will be watching you, protecting you…being the mother I wish I could have been to my own daughter. You are blessed my child.” Then she just faded away.

The next day Eileen took the quilt, the letter and the story over to the Jamestown museum. Once they heard the story of Elsabeth and how she was run out of James Fort they were more than interested in the quilt. They took it, restored the parts Elsabeth sewed and it currently hangs in a museum in Richmond where Elsabeth Clarke-Worthington is given the respect that she deserves.

An archeological project was started at the site of her cabin and the site where the quilt was uncovered. So far they have found enough eveidence to tell the entire truth about this woman and he missing daughter whose great-great-great-great granddaughters are expected to attend a ceremony at Jamestown to make Elsabeth a citizen of the Jamestown colony, an honor too long overdue.