American Historical Ephemera & Photography

68 x 102 in. American flag, machine-sewn wool with 37 double hand-appliqued cotton stars in a 3-6-6-6-6-6-4 pattern. Hoist is cotton duck. Grommets are missing, but there appear to have been brass grommets at the ends of the hoist. (There are now additional holes where nails were put through for mounting. There is a triangular patch in the upper corner of the canton of cotton satin over a smaller cotton broadcloth strip. Numerous splits, mothing. Upper and lower red stripes missing about a yard of fabric.)  37 stars became the official U.S. flag July 4, 1867 with the entry of Nebraska to the Union. This throws into question whether it was acquired during the Civil War. 

Samuel Clary was born in England in 1843. Immigration records show a person of about that age on the ship Rhine sailing from London and arriving in New York City on 25 June 1859. He enlisted in the 75th New York Vol. Infantry in November 1861 and served until August 31, 1865, his unit having veteranized in January 1864. Clary seems to have made it through his first years fine, but beginning in 1864, he spent several stints in the hospital with an unknown illness. Before the war he listed his occupation as a farmer. It is unknown what he did after, but likely returned to farming. He died in Champaign, Illinois in 1912.

Comes with packet of provenance from Civil War soldier’s family.