Museum, Historians Seek To Bring Quilt Home To Valley
Made by Elizabeth Neff in 1843, Now in California


By Kelly Clark
Daily News-Record
HARRISONBURG - Two Valley historical groups are working together to bring a local artifact back to its birthplace.
The Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg and the Shenandoah County Historical Society in Woodstock launched a fundraising campaign this month to purchase a quilt made in 1843 by area resident Elizabeth Neff. If successful, the groups will have the quilt moved from its current home in California to be housed at the museum.
Gloria Comstock, the quilt museum's curator, said about $4,000 is needed to buy the piece, known as the Neff quilt. About $700 has been raised so far, she said. Comstock said the 91-by-98-inch quilt is in the possession of Claire McKarns, a quilt dealer and historian from the San Diego area.
McKarns, who purchased the piece in the Valley in 2001, approached Comstock about the quilt at the American Quilt Study Group's annual seminar in Indianapolis last year. "Her goal is to get [quilts] back to where they originated," Comstock said of McKarns.
The quilt is signed "Elizabeth Neff Property Shenandoah County 1843." The museum and the historical society have narrowed Neff's identity to three possible families who lived in the Valley in the 1840s.
Neff's age, marital status and birthplace remain unknown, Comstock said, but the quilt's size and quality reveal one detail about her life.
"She had to have means to be able to buy this much fabric," she said.
Based on photos, Comstock said the quilt sports a "birds in flight" pattern. Portions were made with either muslin or linen and someone went over the quilt with brushstrokes of blue paint.
She said those details also provide hints about antebellum life in the Valley. "The aesthetic reflects the environment she was in," she said.
Comstock hopes to have the money raised by the end of March. She said in addition to donations, anyone with genealogy revealing the identity of the quilt's maker would be appreciated.
"What was her story?" she said.
Anyone with information or who would like to donate can contact Comstock at the museum at 433-3818 or the Shenandoah County Historical Society in Woodstock at 459-1795.

Contact Kelly Clark at 574-6290 or kclark@dnronline.com Copyright (c) 2016, Byrd Newspapers, All Rights Reserved.

1843 Neff Quilt Coming Home

By Kelly Clark
Daily News-Record

NEW MARKET — Three Valley organizations are celebrating the end of a six-week campaign to bring a piece of local history back to its birthplace.

The Virginia Quilt Museum and the Shenandoah County Historical Society teamed up in February to raise $4,000 for the purchase of a quilt made in 1843 by Shenandoah County resident Elizabeth Neff.

Gloria Comstock, the museum's curator, received a check for $1,125 from the New Market Historical Society during the group's regular meeting on Thursday. The money, collected from donations made by society members, marks the achievement of the $4,000 goal.

Dean Clatterbuck, president of the New Market society, said the group's 75 members learned about the quilt in November, and media coverage of the fundraising campaign inspired them to pitch in.

"I think you guys [society members] are awesome," Clatterbuck said.

The Shenandoah County group collected $620, according to President Barbara Adamson, while the museum collected the rest.

The quilt is a 91-inch-by-98-inch piece signed "Elizabeth Neff's property, Shenandoah County, Virginia, 1843," according to Adamson.

The quilt is now in San Diego, Calif. Adamson said Claire McKarns, a quilt dealer and historian, bought the Neff piece from Jeff Bradfield, owner of Rolling Hills Antique Mall in Harrisonburg, during an antique show in Fishersville in 2001. Bradfield acquired it from Mary Miller, a Bridgewater resident, before her death in 2002.

"We researched her husband Ralph's mother's family," Adamson said. "His grandmother was Elizabeth Neff Miller."

Neff would have been 10 years old in 1843 and probably had help making the quilt, although who helped her is unknown, Adamson said.

Comstock said McKarns approached her about the Neff quilt at the American Quilt Study Group's annual seminar in Indianapolis last year.

"She's trying to get [her quilts] back to their original places," she said.

No timetable has been given for the quilt's arrival in Harrisonburg.

Comstock said knowing the story behind quilts like Neff's means knowing more of the Valley's story.

"It's really important to have the context of all of our quilts," she said. "It's women's history, it's men's history and it's family history."

Contact Kelly Clark at 574-6290 or kclark@dnronline.com

Barbara Adamson, president of the Shenandoah County Historical Society, talks during a New Market Historical Society meeting Thursday about the 1843 quilt stitched by Shenandoah County resident Elizabeth Neff. The county society helped raise money to purchase the piece from a San Diego, Calif., woman to house at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg.

Copyright (c) 2016, Byrd Newspapers, All Rights Reserved.