WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, DOW FAMILY RECORD NEEDLEWORK SAMPLER, silk on linen, six alphabet rows segmented by decorative stitching, lower half featuring the "FAMILY RECORD" topped with the parents, Winthrop and Mary Dow above "They were married in 1787 Their offspring" and two columns listing their children, Anna, Dorcas, Abraham, Lydia, Ezra C., Ruth G., and Ezra, two four-row mourning verses, and a lower right reserve signed "Wrought by Ruth Gage Dow / Weare 4 mo 16. 1819", all encompassed by sawtooth and scrolling flowering-vine borders. Housed under UV glass and conservation mounted in a modern frame. Together with a carved bone book-form box containing a note, "Presented to Maranda J. Dow, / 1855, by her great-Aunt- / Ruth Dow Gage aged / 87 y'rs." Two pieces total. Dated 1819. 16 1/4" x 21 1/2" sight, 20 1/2" x 25 5/8" OA. Sampler in very good overall condition with light toning, light fading and fugitive color to some thread, scattered losses of thread in floral border, top inner sawtooth border, and a few spots in outer sawtooth border, frame with minor wear; box with some wear and surface scratches, a few cracks to sides of base, cover is slightly warped and sits unevenly on base. Provenance: From the collection of Nick Routson, Phoenix, AZ.Susie & Richie Burmann, Ohio/New Hampshire.M. Finkel & Daughter.Skinner, Inc., 8/12/2001, lot 2092. Catalogue Note: Ruth Gage Dow was born on December 8, 1794 to parents Winthrop Dow, Jr. (1760-1835) and Mary Dow (1765-1825), both of Quaker heritage. The family resided in various New Hampshire towns including Seabrook, Rockingham Co. and Weare, Hillsborough Co. Ruth would have completed this sampler around age 24, illustrating careful execution and technical excellence in this piece.On November 19, 1823, she married Thomas Wilson Thorndike (1797-1888) by the Friends Society in Henniker, NH, and they had seven children. Ruth died April 17, 1873 and is buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Weare. Ruth Dow Gage (1768-1861), who presented the carved-bone box, is a maternal aunt and the namesake of the sampler maker.