MYRTLE M. HAMILTON, December 1st, 1895 to March 8 2003
This page lists all the wonderful tatting patterns (and a few crochet) that Myrtle M. Hamilton put out for decades that I'm aware of. Though she never published her patterns as a book, she was wonderfully prolific, and wrote several series of charming articles supporting the art of tatting. This list is not complete and never will be(Georgia Seitz has stated that many of the unattributed patterns in "Workbasket" were actually Mrs. Hamilton's work), but I will continue to add to the list as I finish cataloging runs of magazines and find more articles. Tatters everywhere owe Mrs Hamilton a debt of gratitude for all the lovely designs she generated for us to enjoy, during a long dry spell where she was nearly a one woman band in the USA.
Myrtle M. Hamilton was born December 1st, 1895 in Potter County, Mills, Pennsylvania( Stephanie's Blog) and passed away March 8 of 2003 at the age of 107. She was survived by at least one daughter, Barbara Burrous. She grew up as a farmer's daughter, and lived in Coudersport, Pennsylvania most of her life. That's not much to know about a woman whose life spanned an entire century! This page gives me the excuse of going back and rereading all of Mrs. Hamilton's articles. I'll add more to this as I come across crumbs of biography to add.
Born Myrtle M. Bartoo in Mills Pennsylvania, Potter County, she was the tenth child of twelve, six sons followed by four daughters, and grew up on a fairly prosperous farm. “All the Bartoo children attended the little rural school built by the elder Bartoos on the Bartoo estate. This school was taught by various members of the family – an uncle, an aunt, and finally [a] sister and brother of Dr. [Dorr] Bartoo.” (Dorr Bartoo Obituary)
Given the choice of two years of college or a cow, Myrtle chose college, graduating from Grove City College Normal School. She taught grade school before marrying Loren Hamilton. (Valerie Peters) Her family included three sons.
I learned from Georgia Seitz that one of Mrs. Hamilton's doilies made it onto the cover of a mathematics textbook! Anyone with more information on this, please contact me. I'm dying for bib details so I can hunt this down. One of the reasons I love tatting as much as I do is the mathematical precision required to design and make pieces. It doesn't surprise me at all that a tatted doily would appeal to a math textbook publisher...(addendum: the math book her work is on the cover of was written by one of her brothers, who became a math professor)
Myrtle had patterns published in Annie's Attic's
Heirloom Treasures in Tatting(2004) - a rosary, a fan bookmark, and a snowflake collar!
Most of my information came from http://ambitatterous.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-memory-of-myrtle-hamilton.html
Valerie Peters put up a family portrait of her grandmother and all her living siblings with a small snippet of family history - one of those siblings was Myrtle.
Here is a copy of her obituary notice that Becky Clark tracked down for me:
Myrtle M. Hamilton Obituary
Myrtle M. Hamilton, 107, of Coudersport, PA, formerly of Ulysses, PA, and Riverside Manor, Westfield, PA, died Saturday, March 8, 2003 in the Cole Memorial Hospital, Coudersporn.
Born December 1, 1895, in Mills, PA, she was a daughter of Henry and Clara Grover Barton. On May 10, 1916, in Harrison Valley, PA, she married Loren D. Hamilton, who predeceased her in 1975. Mrs. Hamilton and her husband owned and operated a farm in Ulysses for many years. She was a member of the Ulysses United Methodist Church and the Ulysses Grange. She was well known for tatting. Her tatting patterns were published in many magazines, including Old-Time Crochet Patterns and Designs, Stitch and Sew, McCall's and Workbasket.
Surviving are; three sons, Bernard R. (Betty) Hamilton of Painted Post NY, D. Blair (Vivian) Hamilton of Genesee, PA, and William K. Hamilton of Ulysses; 9 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by a granddaughter, a great-granddaughter, and 11 siblings.
Friends may call Monday, March 10, 2003 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at the Benjamin R. Olney Funeral Home, Ulysses, PA, where Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday at 11:00 AM. The Rev. Glenn A. Hamilton will officiate. Burial will be in Ulysses Cemetery. Memorials may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.
—Erwin, Steuben County, NY, http://www.steubencony.org/Files/Documents/historian/obits/ObitsLetterH.pdf
Magazines I am still working on cataloging:
"American Needlewoman"
"Golden Hands: New Guide"
"Great American Crafts"
"Hearth & Home"
"Home Arts: Needlecraft"
"McCall's Needlework & Crafts"
"Modern Priscilla"
Tower Press' "BLUE RIBBON PATTERNS"
"Women's Circle"(haven't found any tatting in the handful of issues I have of this title, but it's another Tower Press periodical, so what are the odds?)
"Woman's Day"(they published tatting patterns pretty regularly in the 1940's and 1950's - may have the earliest Hamilton pattern found)
"Women's Household"(I've finished cataloging what I have, but still far from having a complete run...)
Magazines that I've catalogued and checked but found no Myrtle Hamilton articles:
"Annie's Crochet Newsletter"
"Annie's Pattern Club Newsletter"
"Country Handcrafts"
"Crafting Traditions"
"Crafts'n Things"
"Crochet World"
"Crochet World Omnibook"
"Lace Crafts Quarterly"
"Needle & Thread"
"Pattern World"
"Pieceworks"
"Threads"
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