By: Mary Antoine de Julio

A grouping of approximately 170 pieces, the Betsey Reynolds Voorhees Collection contains artwork, needlework, letterbooks, and notebooks made by Betsey between 1800 and 1855. A woman of character and determination, she began work while in school and continued sewing and drawing through her married life, while raising four sons and involving herself in social issues of the time. Highly revered by her family, much of Betsey’s art and needlework was saved from sale and oblivion by her youngest son and, subsequently, his daughter. In 1917 the Collection was given to the Montgomery County Historical Society, Fort Johnson, New York, which has preserved it since.