Provenance This quilt was made by Ella May Hinkal Youngman in It was given to her daughter Florence Youngman, who gave it to her niece Marian Freed Hege. Marian’s daughter Ann Hege Hughes shared it with all her cousins. Ella May Hinkal ( ) married James Moore Youngman ( ). They had three daughters: Florence, Adaline, and Dorothy Dorothy Youngman ( ) married Walter C. Freed ( ). They had six children: June, Walter, Marian, Dale, Don, Bruce and 21 grandchildren. Marian Freed ( ) married Franklin B. Hege ( ) Marian had three children: Ann, Don, and David When Marian passed away in 2014 the brown dye dropout was discovered, making it impossible to put the quilt into service, or even to place it with a museum. Ann conferred with her Aunt June and three other cousins, and decided to share the quilt with all 21 of Ella May’s grandchildren, evidence of her talent and skill as a superlative needlework artist. Brown Dye Dropout At first glance the red fabric in this quilt appears to have white dots. On closer inspection, each white dot is in fact a perfect hole. The white you see through the hole is the batting inside the quilt. Fabric dyes contain a chemical called a mordant to bind the dye to the fabric. The mordant used in brown dyes of this era was high in iron which, over time, essentially rusts through the fabric causing the holes you see. Quilting stitches Each segment of the quilt has been cut to show Ella May’s careful stitches, even in length, in straight lines, and forming decorative designs in the white blocks. Imagine the hours it took to place every stitch in this full size bed quilt. All the piecing, assembly, and quilting stitching was done by hand. There was a bay window in Ella May’s bedroom on the second floor at 316 Campbell Street in Williamsport, where she lived from the age of 17 (1880) until her death in She would set her quilt frame in the bay window and stitch by the natural light.

Ella May Hinkal Youngman ( ) This quilt was made by Ella May Hinkal Youngman in It was given to her daughter Florence Youngman, who gave it to her niece Marian Freed Hege. Marian’s daughter Ann Hege Hughes shared it with all her cousins. Ella May Hinkal ( ) married James Moore Youngman ( ) on the 5 th of June 1884, at Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, two doors from her residence at 316 Campbell Street, Williamsport. They had three daughters: Florence, Adaline, and Dorothy Dorothy Youngman ( ) married Walter C. Freed ( ). They had six children: June, Walter, Marian, Dale, Don, Bruce and 21 grandchildren. Marian Freed ( ) married Franklin B. Hege ( ) Marian had three children: Ann, Don, and David When Marian passed away in 2014 the brown dye dropout was discovered, making it impossible to put the quilt into service, or even to place it with a museum. Ann conferred with her Aunt June and three other cousins, and decided to share the quilt with all 21 of Ella May’s grandchildren, evidence of her talent and skill as a superlative needlework artist. Family Tree Ella May Hinkal James Moore Youngman Adalene Ludwig Youngman Florence Antes Youngman Dorothy Eulalie Youngman L. Stuart Young Walter Curtin Freed Charles Youngman Young, George Stuart Young Eleanor Louise Young Walter Curtin Freed II Dorothy June Freed m. Wilcox Marian Louise Freed , m. Hege Dale Youngman Freed Bruce James Starr Freed Donald Wayne Freed For more information, see Wilcox and Graff, A Freed Family History