09/03/2026
Work continues on photographing and cataloging our inventory and thought I would share this textile with you today.
This is a piece of "flaxen cloth" or linen that was grown, retted, shredded and woven right here in Conneaut Township.
The cloth was made by Nancy Crockett Graham. Nancy was one of eight children born to Thomas B. and Esther (Johnson) Crockett. Nancy was born November 12, 1804 in Conneaut Township and married William Graham in Conneaut Township. They had seven known children. Nancy died April 24, 1888 and is buried in the Conneaut Center Cemetery. This cloth would have been created sometime in the 1830s-1840s.
Creating this piece of linen would not have been an easy task at all! First you had to plant the seeds, grow the crop (which takes 90-110 days), then harvest the crop, then you either have to do “dew retting” or “water retting” of the plants in order to even begin processing them for creating the cloth. This is a very lengthy and involved process. I will link to the “scienceinsights” web page that details this process.
Have also included images of the flax in bloom – a very beautiful floral plant, and a picture of the different stages of the process.
The cloth was donated to us by Alta (Graham) White, who was the Great-Great-Granddaughter of Nancy. Alta was born January 11, 1898 and died September 23, 1989. She is buried in the Linesville Cemetery.
The link to the science website: https://scienceinsights.org/how-to-make-flax-fibers-from-plant-to-linen/
