img

BACK TO STORIES

Susannah Johnson Justice's Civil War Handkerchief Quilt

Michigan; United States

Susannah Johnson was born somewhere in Pennsylvania ca. 1813. Before 1820 her parents had moved to Tuscarawas County, OH. She was married in Holmes County, OH, March 6, 1834 to John Justice, who died January 11, 1849 in Wood County, OH. She then married his younger brother, Jeremiah, who was several years younger than she, and moved to Fulton County, OH. There Jeremiah enlisted in the Civil War along with his nephews/stepsons. None of the families today know what happened to Jeremiah after he was mustered out at Louisville, KY, in August 1865, exactly 3 years after he entered service, but he had been in ill health much of that time and it is assumed that he soon died.

About 1867 Susannah and all her children, married and unmarried, moved to Campbell Township, Ionia County, MI.

Susannah had a large handkerchief, reported to have been carried by her husband in the Civil War. In 1875 she decided to use it to make a centennial quilt in honor of the centennial which would be celebrated the following year.

Susannah died in Ionia County, MI, April 28, 1887.

Written by MacDowell, Marsha

MacDowell, Marsha and Fitzgerald, Ruth, ed. Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition, Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, MI, 1987, page 51.

Michigan State University Museum
 

RELATED RECORDS

  • Michigan State University Museum

    Museum

    Michigan Quilt Project

  • c1875

    Civil War kerchie...

    Justice, Susannah

Load More

img