Owner Enos Doolittle was a Yankee peddler who settled here in 1820 when he opened his dry goods store. He married Bathsheba Robbins, daughter of one of Centerville’s founders, Benjamin Robbins, and opened the tavern and stage coach stop in 1832.
The Doolittle Tavern was considered one of the finest west of the Alleghenies. Both William Henry Harrison and Henry Clay visited the inn that became the social gathering place for the growing community.
Young Philena, who likely worked in the business, mingling with the guests, found time to make her sampler. The late Sue Studebaker, author of “Ohio Is My Dwelling Place, Schoolgirl Embroideries 1800-1850,” published in 2002, described Philena’s sampler as “neatly stitched, but she had a difficult time planning the space for the alphabet. The lower half of the canvas is abundantly filled with several decorative designs.”
Apparently, the sampler made a journey from Centerville. It was found by an Illinois antique dealer in England some years ago.
In 2000, when Studebaker was researching her schoolgirl samplers book, she contacted the Illinois dealer for information. She offered to purchase the sampler for the Centerville-Washington Twp. Historical Society, but the owner wanted to keep it in her personal collection.
The story plot thickens. When Don and Edythe Aukerman of Centerville were in Chicago last month, he remembered that Dr. Richard Studebaker, Sue’s husband, had said the sampler was in that area. Don googled the owner’s name listed in Sue’s book and called, only to find out the owner had passed away and her husband had sold her collection to another Chicago dealer.
Don continued his sleuthing. He contacted the second dealer who intended to sell the sampler at an antique show.
Within the next hour, Don had Philena Doolittle’s embroidery work in hand and brought it back to Centerville where he says, “It belongs. I think the Doolittle family would be pleased to have the sampler returned after 173 years.”
Philena’s sampler rested briefly in the Aukermans’ 1825 Centerville home, just a block away from the Doolittle Tavern site.
It has been purchased by the Centerville-Washington Twp. Historical Society in memory of Sue Studebaker and in honor of her husband.
The society plans an unveiling of the sampler as part of its open house celebration of the 200th birthday of the historic Aaron Nutt Cottage, 78 N. Main St., Sunday, Sept. 12, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Anita Richwine is a board member of the Centerville-Washington Township Historical Society. Contact her at Anita824@aol.com.
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