Hanes and Ruskin Antiques - Accessories - Archives - SOLD Pearlware Shell Edge Marriage Plate

This is a marriage plate, and research indicates that Laban and Mary were married on October 11, 1796, in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The marriage was also filed on Nantucket (Laban’s birthplace) and in Boston (Mary’s birthplace). The pearlware body and style of the plate corresponds nicely with this time period. Laban was the son of Benjamin and Phebe (Worth) Folger, and records indicate that the family left Nantucket sometime before 1796. Mary was the daughter of Elijah and Eunice (Sargent) Mayhew of Boston, although Elijah was originally from Newburyport, Massachusetts. One would assume that Laban Folger was a man of some means to have had this plate, and possibly other pieces, made to order in England. His status as a Mason was obviously important to him. His death is recorded in Montreal, Canada, on April 19, 1810. Between his marriage and his death, no information could be found, nor any indication of children from the marriage. Mary died in Andover, Massachusetts, on May 3, 1817. We can only surmise that Laban may have been a “black sheep” and had taken off for Canada shortly after his marriage.