Seldom do we find a quilt pattern with just one
name. In the case of the Jacob's Ladder pattern we find it has been called
many names over the years. Just a few are Underground Railroad, Road to
California, Off to San Francisco, Gone to Chicago, Stepping Stones and Trail
of the Covered Wagon. 1 All these names have one commonality, they all speak
of going somewhere.
It may be a trip through the garden using stepping stones or it might be the
long journey west in a covered wagon. Women might well have have dreamed of
traveling as they were sewing on this quilt.
When Marie Webster wrote the first known book on quilting in 1915 she
referred to the Jacob's Ladder pattern in this way, "The bold and rather
heavy design known as 'Jacobs Ladder' is a good example of a pieced quilt."
She showed a black and white picture of this pattern with the caption, "One
of the most striking quilts having Biblical names." 2 Biblical names were
often used for quilts in a time when reading the Bible each day was a part
of family life.
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