I'm looking for information about what sorts of canvas or sacking material might have been around in East Texas in the 1840s.  Can anyone help?

I'm at the Sterne-Hoya Museum in Nacogdoches.  It was built in 1830 and its owner Adolphus Sterne wrote in his diary in March 1843 that
"notwithstanding the intense Cold made a a Room out of the front gallery for a supper room for the party on to morrow."  We're planning an
exhibition that recreates a midwinter party in the 1840s and would like to "make a room" out of the front porch just as Sterne did.  Aside from the
modern concerns about fire-retardant materials, etc., I would like to stay pretty close to the original and am curious to find out what materials
Sterne might have had at hand.  I've looked through an old merchant's ledger from Nacogdoches in the early 1840s and can find no reference to
canvas or sacking or even tents.  Any suggestsions?

Of course, I'm hoping to find that he used gorgeous striped festive looking canvas, but am prepared to accept plain burlap if necessary.

Any assistance appreciated.  Thank you, Lindsey Richardson

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