MOUNT VERNON — In an age before weaving was done by automated machines, weaving was a highly valued craft, executed with an artistic eye.

To that end, early American coverlets have become highly collectible items.

  • Yearous used distelfinks in this coverlet, woven in Knox County in 1848.

  • In the signature corner of the 1855 blanket, Yearous wove his name, the location, and the year along with a proudly American eagle.

  • Tulips and federal buildings are featured in this Yearous coverlet from 1855.

  • The early Knox County weaver Adam Yearous with his wife Margaret.

The Knox County Historical Society Museum is fortunate to have a number of wonderfully preserved coverlets from the mid-19th century on display, but they are doubly lucky to have a photograph of one of the early weavers.

Adam Yearous was born in Germany around 1826, but came to Jefferson Township in Knox County, Ohio, to set up his trade as a weaver. By the late 1840s, the young man was producing signed works with decorative elements characteristic of the German style.

Distelfink and eagle

Typical imagery in German weaving includes decorative roses or tulips, and large formal buildings, perhaps representative of government and authority (back in a day when such entities were more respected). But above all, German weaving is known for the use of birds in the design, specifically what was called a “distelfink,” literally a “thistle finch,” which is the German name for a goldfinch.

German weavers who came to America, though, added a distinctly patriotic American bird, often in the same corner where the coverlet was signed and dated: the eagle. According to the book American Coverlets and Their Weavers, Adam Yearous set himself a goal of weaving 10 coverlets per year, at a fee of $10, plus materials, per coverlet.

Even adjusting for inflation, the total value of somewhere between $300 and $500 still seems a bargain for such fine quality in a hand-made coverlet.

In the end, perhaps Yearous’ intensive work schedule wore him down. Whatever the case, the weaver died in 1875 and is buried in Danville. His wife Margaret (born Stillinger) outlived him by almost a quarter century.

The Yearous coverlets can be seen on display at the Knox County Historical Society Museum, 875 Harcourt Rd. in Mount Vernon. The museum is open March through November on Wednesdays 6 to 8 p.m., and Thursday through Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m.

Reach Knox Pages historian Mark Jordan at HistoryKnocks@sinisterhandmedia.com.