Anniversary for America's second most important flag

MILFORD — One hundred and forty-two years ago, April 14 fell on a Friday and so did the president — on that night in 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater in Washington. Twenty year-old Jeannie Gourlay, who would later become Jeannie Gourlay Struthers of Milford, was on stage performing in “Our American Cousin,” a comedy remembered only for its association with the tragedy. Her father, Thomas C. Gourlay, was also in the cast that night, as the playbill affirms. Several American flags decorated the president’s box, but the fate of one of those flags remained in contention for the next 130 years. The Pike County Historical Society’s “Lincoln Flag” was a 1954 gift of V. Paul Struthers, who received it from his mother, the former Jeannie Gourlay. The family history tells that Thomas Gourlay was among those who rushed to Lincoln’s theater box after the shooting. At some point during efforts to treat the president, Gourlay is said to have taken a large wool flag, measuring about 8 1/2 by 12 feet, and cushioned Lincoln’s head. After the president was taken to a house across the street, where he died the following morning, Gourlay retrieved the bloodied flag and hid it. The flag remained a Struthers’ family heirloom until 1954 and, upon going to the society, apparently spent some years in relative seclusion. Dick Daddis, president of the society has heard stories of the flag having been draped over an outdoor porch rail. Former Society President Barbara Buchanan was horrified to find it displayed on a shower rod in the society’s former shared quarters in Community House, the current Pike County Library building. Since the society moved into the Columns in the early 1980’s, she said, the stained flag has been displayed in an air-tight case, in a room where damaging sunlight never enters. For those in Pike County, it was the Lincoln Flag and that was all there was to it. The rest of the world remained skeptical until a noted Lincoln scholar, Joseph Garrera did a year-long investigation of the flag and its story. Testing determined the stain on the flag was that of human blood. Garrera wrote a 125-page paper in which he concluded that Pike County’s Lincoln Flag was authentic. Historians in Illinois and other states have since agreed with him, as has the National Park Service historian at Ford’s Theater. “People are amazed to find it here in Milford,” Daddis said. “It’s one of the two most important American flags.” He ceded the number-one position to Fort McHenry’s “Star Spangled Banner,” which inspired Francis Scott Key’s penning of the national anthem. That flag now resides at the Smithsonian Institution. Daddis said the flag has only left Milford once since coming to the society, for the 2001 opening of the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg. It is scheduled later this month to go on loan for several weeks to the Lehigh Valley Museum in Bethlehem for an ongoing Civil War exhibit there. The flag is also to travel to Illinois for the upcoming bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth in 2009, and other exhibits will be shown in Milford as part of the bicentennial celebration. The flag’s tall upright case protects it from the elements, but only allows a small portion of the banner to be seen. Daddis said the society would love to have a climate controlled room where the flag might be displayed, but that is a luxury beyond the budget. “This is an old building and like any old building, you’ll spend a lot of money to keep them going,” he said. The museum’s operating costs are about $47,000 annually, about half of which is derived from state grants, said Treasurer Ray Weeks. The remainder is a combination of donations received in a small box in the lobby, budgeted money from Milford Borough and Dingman Township, and sponsors including several private families in the area. The museum has no corporate sponsors. “We’d like to have some, but we don’t as of yet. There are lot of people asking them for money these days and there is just so much money out there,” Daddis said. Daddis said the society is also looking to bolster its staff of volunteer guides or docents. “We have some, but we need more. Volunteers will be trained in the history of the Columns collection and library. The museum is open 1 to 4 p.m., Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in the spring, through June 30. Call 570-296-8126 or visit www.pikehistory.org .