Julia A. Purnell
A Life Embroidered With Love

In 1843, Snow Hill was a busy little town, inhabited by interesting people—rich and poor, Black and white, powerless and mighty. Local newspapers, kept them abreast of the latest news, newest inventions and current trends. 

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Into such a world, Julia Anne LeCompte was born on October 27, 1843 to James S. and Henrietta. James LeCompte ran a general store, which contained the post office, where he served as postmaster. Julia helped her father at the store and observed firsthand the excitement of the day.

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"As a young woman, I used to watch the state coach come into Snow Hill from Salisbury with the mail and its passengers. The stagecoach driver always blew a horn before he reached the river bridge, and everybody in Snow Hill usually heard it and rushed down to meet the stage." 

Julia and her mother made taffy and little cakes to sell at the store: "One winter, my mother and I made together six molasses barrels full of cakes and taffy, which my father sold in his store. We made 10,000 sticks of taffy from each barrel." 

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Julia lived her entire 100 years in Snow Hill, but occasionally ventured to bigger places. She and her brother, Thomas, would sail to Baltimore to purchase molasses for the store. They would buy several one-pint samples from various dealers, and at the boarding house would make each sample into taffy. They would purchase the barrels of molasses from the dealer whose sample produced the best taffy. 

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During the Civil War, a Union cavalry regiment camped overnight in town, and the commander billeted with Julia's father. Julia was given permission to ride the commander's horse around town the next morning. Because there were few able-bodied men in town during the war, Julia's father also served as undertaker for the duration.

 

"When a person died, my father placed the body in salt and ice until the burial. We called this method of keeping the bodies by the name of "pickled" and nobody thought anything of the expression."

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Before the first public school was built, Julia attended class in a private school room on Federal Street run by Sally Moore, who was the grandmother of the late State Senator John P. Moore of Snow Hill. Accustomed to hard work at an early age, Julia was employed as a dress-maker, made writing pens from goose quills, fashioned candles, split straw to make hats, and helped her father line coffins with fabric.

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Julia married William H. Purnell in 1869 and began what she called "the happiest years of my life." Despite the deaths of her son, Francis, and her husband, she lived a busy life. She remained active in her church, Whatcoat Methodist, and helped her surviving son, William, run his flower and evergreen wholesale business. But, at the age of 85, a serious fall left her confined to a wheelchair. Although unable to walk, her spirits remained high, as well as her energy. To occupy her hours, she began designing and making needlework pictures of local buildings; her talent as a "Grandma Moses" of needlework became obvious. When she was 97, she sent more than 100 pieces of her work to the Philadelphia Hobby Show, where she won a First Prize as well as the Grand Prize. Her exhibit included 45 sets of framed depictions of the famous Dionne Quintuplets, often exhibited at local fairs and shows. Her needlework earned her a place in 1942 in the Hobby Hall of Fame of America.

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In addition to being well-known for her talent, Julia Purnell was well-loved by her neighbors: "Julia's greatness lay in her complete simplicity, her belief in loving one another, her devotion to her church, and her indomitable spirit." Several neighbors and fellow Ladies' Aid Society members gave her big birthday parties when she turned 90, and again when she turned 95.

 

But the biggest party of all was planned, and the whole town invited, for her 100th birthday celebration. The festivities were held at Whatcoat Church and broadcast over WBOC radio, with songs, poetry, and the unveiling of her portrait. Chosen Snow Hills' outstanding citizen in 1941, Mrs. Purnell served as an inspiration to countless people who admired her work, her outlook, her courage, and talent. 

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William Z. Purnell, Julia's surviving son, opened the Julia A. Purnell Museum a year before she died, as a lasting memorial to his mother. He displayed hundreds of her needlework pictures, all framed in homemade walnut frames fashioned from trees planted by his father. Historical artifacts, oddities and curiosities rounded out his extensive collection - the forerunner of today's Julia A. Purnell Museum. 

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In 1942, the Julia A. Purnell Museum was opened in Snow Hill as a loving son's proud tribute to his mother. Julia A. LeCompte Purnell became one of Snow Hill's best-known and best-loved citizens. Slowly recovering from a crippling fall at the age of 85...Julia Purnell gathered her spiritual, artistic, and physical strength and began to embroider the last chapter in her life's colorful tapestry. 

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Tinted with scenes changing from candlelight to electricity, horse-drawn carts to fast-moving automobiles, Civil War colonels to World War II Flyers, Julia Purnell's world was transformed as her century of life came to its conclusion. What was a constant throughout her long life shone from her art: love of her life-long home-Snow Hill, devotion to family and a "close walk with God."