This multi-colored silk embroidered sampler was made by Abigail Stockton in 1784. Her hand-sewn inscription reads, “When in the night I sleepless lie my Lord with heavenly thoughts supply / let no ill dreams disturb my rest / no power of darkness me molest” followed by “Abigail Stockton Her Work / 1784.” Abigail Stockton’s father, Richard Stockton, who as a delegate from New Jersey at the Continental Congress, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Abigail’s daughter moved with her husband to Natchez, MS, and this sampler was handed down through her family. One of the earliest European settlements in the state, Natchez became the capital of the Mississippi Territory and the early capitol of the state.