The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale, AR, recently published a book on the woven coverlets in their collection and used census data to trace their artisans, including Hester Ann Baker Doyal, who wove the "Cat Track and Snail Trail" coverlet shown to the right. What little information the museum knows about her comes from census records. For example, census records indicated that she was born in Kentucky to parents who hailed from Tennessee and South Carolina. She lived with her family in Missouri in 1850, 1860, and 1870, and the 1880 Census found her married to James Doyal and living in rural Boone County, AR. Hester does not appear in the census after 1880. As a result, museum staff assumes she died in the 1880s. She was buried in an unmarked grave in Crawford Cemetery east of Harrison, AR. Thanks to census records and the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History's preservation efforts, Hester's and other weavers' history and craftsmanship lives on.

To learn more about Hester Ann Baker Doyal and other local women, visit the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History site below.