A sample bonnet from the 18th century found in Connecticut. Note: this is not a photograph of the bonnets made by the Burnap sisters. Samples of leghorn straw bonnets can be found HERE.
According to the Merrimack NH town history, presented at the Bicentennial celebration in 1946 (written by my grandmother, Mattie Kilborn Webster): “The Burnap sisters, daughters of Merrimack, New Hampshire’s first minister [Jacob Burnap], had other ideas of a woman’s usefulness. It is claimed that in this Town [Merrimack] they invented the making of “Leghorn hats” or bonnets, as they were called. Continue reading
