Family records featuring a tree emerging from twined hearts developed in a defined area of New England, with the greatest concentration in eastern and central Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Cape Ann and Connecticut. The majority of needleworks featuring the image were made by female members of the family as students, while the watercolor examples are usually the work of professional male artists. On Cape Ann, the convention was transmitted through specific family lines and in family records made primarily by William Saville, Joshua Pool, and William Richardson. Of people named in twenty-eight Cape Ann records, only Olive Clark was not a native of the region, further demonstrating the insular nature of the imagery.

The Bickford-Clark record is signed by Joshua Pool, who was probably a resident of Gloucester and possibly a student of William Saville. Olive Clark married Andrew Bickford in 1808 and gave birth to eight children between the years 1810 and 1828. In addition to vital statistics about their families, this and other decorated Gloucester family records provide a good deal of information about local vernacular architecture. The one-and-a-half story, center-chimney house with gambrel roof is an early form, and its retention as a vital part of this farm shows the generational nature of New England architecture. The property limits are defined by a dry stone wall, which developed in part as a convenient way to use stones unearthed as the soil was tilled. The hand production of family records persisted until the middle of the nineteenth century, when they were largely replaced by printed forms.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Family Record for Andrew Bickford and Olive Clark," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 313.