Information taken from www.dearjane.com

She was born Jane A. Blakely on April 8, 1817, daughter of Erastus Blakely (1786-1831) and Sarah (Sally) Rein (1776-1864). In the 1830 census, taken shortly before Erastus Blakely died, he had seven persons living in his household, four males and three females. Daughters Emily and Caroline died in 1823, one month apart, at the ages of fifteen and sixteen. Jane, who was twelve at the time, lived with her parents, her brother Erastus, age eleven, and her sister, Sarah Ann, age nineteen. Two white males are also listed in this census, one age fifteen to twenty, and the other age twenty to thirty. Perhaps they were farm hands.Erastus Blakely wrote his will October 2, 1830, three months prior to his death. He bequeathed his personal property and real estate to his 'beloved wife Sally Blakely,' to be used 'as she shall 'udge proper for the support of herself and family." His property consisted

of sixteen acres with buildings and 'appurtenances thereof, including a blacksmith shop and a variety of unfinished wagons and sulkeys,' appraised at one thousand eighteen dollars. It is interesting to note that a list of household furnishings includes two quilts valued at five dollars.Jane's marriage to Walter A. Stickle is presumed from the census of 1850, which names him as head of the household. It does not appear that Jane and Walter had children of their own. However, a search of the Shaftsbury school district records reveals that they assumed responsibility for at least three children.In the 1860's, Jane is listed in the census as living by herself. Her occupation is that of farmer, and she is forty-three years old. Her husband Walter is living with his brother-in-law Erastus, perhaps a temporary arrangement in order to help with the planting or repairs to farm equipment.Whatever the reason for their separation, Walter and Jane were listed together in the 1870 census, with a farm and a domestic servant, Sarah Bump. Unfortunately, they were forced into bankruptcy in 1877. At the time of Walter's death on February 19, 1883, he and Jane were living as boarders in the home of Georgia and Eveline Eddy.What did Jane do for all those years without Walter or the rest of her family? We know that she finished The Quilt in 1863. 1 imagine her sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair, piecing away on one of her beautiful quilts. Perhaps some day we shall find them, tucked away in an old trunk, bearing that precious signature, 'Jane A. Stickle."

Jane was still a boarder at the time she passed away on March 2, 1896 at the age of seventy-nine. She is buried with her brother and his family in the Shaftsbury Cemetery, just down the road from where she spent her life. I have heard that her old homeplace on Route 7 is for sale. Perhaps I shall live there one day...