Oconee History Center General Store Museum, 126 East Main Street

#3 Double Wedding Ring

Quilters Bessie Ross Barrett & Sarah Buchanan Jones

Sponsor Westminster Historical Association

During the early 1900's "Women’s tastes shifted from dark colors to a rainbow of pastel colors –watermelon pinks, mint greens, and lemon yellows. The Double Wedding Ring was a pattern that lent itself well to the pastel fabrics. A feature of many Double Wedding Ring quilts was its scalloped edge created by the circles that made up the quilt. Because of its name, this pattern is often selected for quilts associated with marriage." Source Quilt Discovery Experience, Homestead National Monument of America Beatrice, Nebraska

The quilters, Grandmother Barrett was born in 1890 in Hopewell Community of Oconee County, SC. She was the mother of Charles G. Barrett, grandmother of Charles Lee Barrett and died in 1986. Her quilt is trimmed in green. Sarah Buchanan Jones (Granny Jones) was born in 1873 in Westminster, Oconee County, SC. She was the grandmother of Johnny Jones, the great grandmother of Joyce Jones Barrett and she died in 1960. Her quilt is trimmed in pink.

Preserving England’s Store

The original general store building (2 blocks west on Main Street) was built in 1908, and England’s General Merchandise opened for business at that time. For decades, the downtown general store carried everything its customers might ever need or want including the “Flymo” hovering lawnmower, Blue Horse notebook paper, saddle shoes, and much much more! For over a 100 years the shopkeepers accumulated a collection of merchandise spanning the entire twentieth century. The last shopkeeper, William “Dub” England, ceased store operations in the early 1980s, opening his collection as a museum until his passing in 2005.

In 2007 a non-profit organization, the Westminster Area Historic Preservation Society (WAHPS), purchased the building’s historic contents. WAHPS then donated the contents to the Oconee History Museum for the purpose of establishing a branch museum. In 2008, the Barrett-Jones building was donated by Lee and Joyce Barrett to Oconee History Museum and renovations began. With the ongoing help of the Westminster Area Historic Preservation Society, the General Store Museum opened in 2011.

For hours of operation and additioanl infomation click Oconee History Musem.