Stolen Quilts: South Carolina to Massachusetts

An elegant quilt from Patricia Smith's collection, pictured in the catalog Calico & Chintz.

"One chilly night it was taken from a plantation mansion by a Union officer---a Captain Tory from Foxboro, Massachusetts. Along with the story of its wartime acquisition, the spread was handed down for generations within the same family."

Another quilt that should have been buried with the silver but wasn't, appropriated during the Civil War. Can we find out more about Captain Tory?

Tory is not a common name but what if it was Torrey? I quickly found a Captain William H. Torrey from Foxboro/Foxborough (you can spell it either way) who had a distinguished Civil War record, particularly with the 55th Massachusetts Infantry, also known as the 55th Massachusetts Colored. He was later promoted to Major for "gallant and meritorious services."

The 55th Massachusetts Colored Infantry was photographed soon after the outfit was formed in 1863. Torrey may be one of the white officers.


In five years of Civil War Torrey saw a good deal of the South, but this quilt with its medallion center and chintz border has the look of South Carolina, a location that matches the family tale. The 55th Massachusetts was in South Carolina from 1863 to the end of the War.

In the war's last weeks they marched from the coastal islands towards Charleston and into South Carolina, capturing local partisans and punishing residents of the state who'd advocated war over any discussion about slavery's abolition. It may be that this quilt in such good condition was a souvenir captured in that last march---too nice to let it burn in one of the torched plantations.