CHEST
Aaron Miltimore (1801–1852)
Weston, Vermont, ca. 1827
Cherry; white pine secondary wood; original finish
Signed “Aaron Miltimore/Weston Vermont”
H. 50 1/4", W. 42 1/2", D. 19 1/4"
Courtesy of Erik Gronning Antiques
This cherry chest, with highly stylized acanthus carving and delicately turned legs, is the only known chest associated with the previously undocumented cabinetmaker Aaron Fitz Miltimore. Miltimore was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, and baptized in Windsor, Vermont. His parents, James Miltimore (1773–1825) and Abigail Fitz (1774–1860), raised him in Windham, Vermont. He married Polly Bridge (1805–1874) from Weston, Vermont, in 1827, and it is possible that this chest was made for their marriage.
While no documents have surfaced indicating that Miltimore was a cabinetmaker, the red chalk used in the name inscription is also evident throughout the chest in calculations and measurement markings. In The Best the Country Affords: Vermont Furniture 1765–1850, Kenneth Zogry illustrates a washstand (p. 142, fig. 87) labeled by Lyman Briggs of Montpelier, Vermont, with nearly identical carving. It is possible that here, either an itinerant worker did the carving or that Miltimore apprenticed with Briggs or his brother, Eliphalet Jr. of Keene, New Hampshire.
Miltimore had left Vermont by 1839 and became one of the original settlers of Avon Township in Illinois. There he was known as a farmer and is buried in the Avon Center cemetery. His chest stands as a prominent addition to the body of documented Vermont furniture.
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