War-era quilt blocks returned to Massachusetts

摘要

When Jane MacDonald, a quilter from Lake Wylie, S.C., saw a fragment of a quilt at a North Charlotte flea market, she recognized a valuable antique and bought it. Her subsequent inspection of the 30 squares of the fragment showed signatures of the original quilters and the date March 16, 1863, on a number of the blocks, along with the words "Monument, MA." Eventually her research led her to a genealogist who recognized Monument, MA as Monument Village, now a part of Bourne, Mass., and to the Bourne Historical Society. Mary E. Sicchio, accessions manager at the historical society, told the Cape News in Falmouth, Mass., that it was former accessions manager Thelma R. Loring's reply to an intriguing e-mail from MacDonald that ultimately brought the quilt squares back to Bourne. To Loring's surprise, that e-mail described the signature that proved to be that of her own great-grandmother.