I have become interested in these chairs due to the fact that I discovered that my grandfather made them, and was known for this in the area where he lived.  The chairs I'm referring to are simple, ladder-back style chairs, with a variety of seating materials. 

This style of chair is documented as far back as the War Between the States.  There are examples seen in several photographs taken by Matthew Brady and others who documented that conflict.  I have no doubt that the style goes back much farther, and may be a vernacular adaptation of common chair forms.  I have seen many listing here on eBay where the chairs are referred to as 'Shaker', but whether these chairs were adapted by local artisans from the form adopted by the Shakers, or the Shakers took the common chair form and applied their own aesthetics to it, I can't say.  The main difference between the two styles is the cleanliness of the lines for the Shaker chairs as opposed to what I call simply ladder-back chairs, and the Shaker chairs often have some type of finial on top of the rear posts, which most of these primitive example lack.

As I stated, this was a common chair form in the less cosmopolitan areas of the nation, at least from the 1830's or thereabout.  I have seen examples of these chairs attributed to makers in upstate New York, Pennsylvania,Virginia, North Carolina, and down through Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and on into Texas.  Along the Eastern seaboard, the chairs most often have only two slats across the back, with examples from New York and Pennsylvania often having a pronounced curve to the back posts.  The top slats of these northern examples were often stencilled, and the chairs themselves were more often painted.  These northern examples, that I have seen, were also a bit more refined in their construction than most of the Southern examples, often with some turnings on the legs and rear posts.  The seats of the Northern examples were usually woven rush or plank seating.

The examples I've seen from Virginia most often have two back slats, but occasionally have three.  The seats of these chairs were made of woven cane or, sometimes, split white oak splints.  The examples I've seen from North Carolina and Tennessee usually had woven split white oak seats, again were more likely to have two back slats rather than three, but were much more likely that those from Virginia to have simple turnings on the legs or rear posts, and occasionally had finials.

The examples I've seen from Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas always had three back slats, have never had turnings, and were seated with split white oak splints.  I have purchased a couple of examples that were seated with a rope net, but I feel this is a relatively modern replacement for a lost seat.  As we enter Texas, the chairs have always had three back slats, were plain in their construction, and most often the seats were made from rawhide, with the hair left on.  Cowhide was most common, with deerskin a close second. 

As I've said, these chairs were often hand-made by local crafters, my grandfather being one.  As such, they were individual, but similarities applied to makers.  I have only one example of a chair that my grandfather made, but I know of several, and they all have the same characteristics.  A slight backward tilt to the seat, due to the rear legs being set at an angle, a curve to the rear posts, and a much wider front than rear to the seat.  The scale of his pieces are another identifying factor, as he was a large man, and he made larger chairs.  I have two more examples of work done by other men, two chairs by one man made around 1870-1880, another set of three made by a man in Nacogdoches Co., TX, and there are trademarks between them.  The shapes of the slats, the width of the front as opposed to the back of the seat, the curve to the rear posts, all of these add up as identifiers of makers.

There  were also chairs made by local furniture manufacturers, which can most often be identified due to a look, a uniformity to the pieces, and a lack of what I call 'spring' to them that seperates them from the hand-made pieces.  The types of wood were pretty uniform across the swath where these chairs have shown up, with the uprights (front and rear legs) often made of hickory, sometimes of maple further North.  The cross members were made of locally favorite woods with strength being the primary factor.  I have seen them made of ash, maple, locust, and chestnut. 

Please, if anyone has more information to add, please feel free to contact me.