U.S. flag donated to Leoti museum to fly again 150 years after Lincoln’s death

Susan Schrader took the cardboard dress box that held the old flag and, about a year ago, carried it into the Museum of the Great Plains in Leoti.

She knew it had been in the family for five generations, and as long as she could remember, it had always been tucked away in her parents’ cedar chest.

Karen Walk, curator of the museum in Wichita County in western Kansas, remembers thinking the box probably held a 48-star flag.

“But when I opened up that box and counted the stars and only saw 36 stars, we were so excited,” Walk said. “I ran real fast and got a chart that had when all the different states joined. The 36-star was when Nevada joined the Union, and oh, my gosh, we were just jumping around like little beans.”

The flag also may have a roundabout connection to President Abraham Lincoln.

The flag’s original owner was a Lincoln supporter, and the flag may have flown above the president’s funeral procession in New York City in 1865, Walk said.

Finding value in 36 stars

Is it rare?

“I don’t think anyone would call 36-star flags rare; we have several here,” said James M. Cornelius, curator of the Lincoln Collection at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Ill. “My guess is that there were hundreds if not thousands. The estimate is close to 100,000 people may have gone through City Hall in New York to view his remains for the last time. Every military unit would have at least one 36-star flag and maybe a dozen in addition to their company flag and state flag.”

But there is huge sentimental value associated with the 36-star flag, said historian Ian Hunt at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.

The 36-star flag represents when Nevada joined the United States on Oct. 31, 1864, six months before the Civil War ended and Lincoln was assassinated.

The president was shot on April 14, 1865, in Ford’s Theater and died the next morning.

The United States used the 36-state flag for 2 1/2 years until Nebraska became a state on March 1, 1867.

Original owner

Schrader’s flag offered a small clue as to who had been its previous owner: The name S.P. Holmes had been written in ink along the hoist side of the flag.

Not long before the flag was donated to the museum, Schrader’s aging mother, who was in a Leoti nursing home, was asked whether she knew who S.P. Holmes was.

A few days later, Schrader’s mother, Doris Berry, recalled the name Samuel Platner Holmes.

After much research, Walk discovered that Holmes was a merchant in New York and a businessman who had a lawsuit settled by Lincoln.

“He was a businessman who dealt in American and foreign silks, Berlin wool, embroidery silks, fringes, braids, gimp, silver and gold buttons, ladies’ dress trimmings, gold and silver articles for military regalia,” Walk said. “We figure this flag was very important to Samuel.”

The lawsuit involved some individuals buying military merchandise from Holmes, never paying for it and shipping it across Confederate lines, Walk said.

“What interested me about the lawsuit was the last paragraph,” Walk said. “All the papers and judgment of the court was submitted to the president of the United States for approval or disapproval.”

That president was Abraham Lincoln. And this year marks the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s death and the conclusion of the Civil War.

“Whenever my parents moved, the flag went with us,” Schrader said. Her father, Graham Berry, was a newspaperman born in Alaska. It is through his side of the family that the flag was passed from generation to generation. He was presented the flag on May 30, 1918, when he was 9. Both of Schraders’ parents have since died. Holmes gave the flag to his granddaughter, Jessie Seymoure, who married Frank Berry, Graham’s father.

“When my mother passed away, I had to go through the house and decide what I would do with everything,” Schrader said. “I gave a lot to the museum. I decided the flag needed to be there instead of in a box. I have no regrets. I am glad they are so excited.”

After the Leoti museum received the flag, museum officials decided to contact an accredited conservator to restore it. It had some moth damage. The museum’s board chose Paulette Reading, an accredited textile conservator in Denver.

But with a countywide population of a little more than 2,100 residents, it seemed unlikely an estimated $13,000 could be raised for the museum to pay for the restoration. Through grants, the museum was able to secure the funding through the Archer Daniels Midland Co., which donated $13,000 toward the flag’s restoration.

The flag is 8 by 5 feet and will be framed and hung on the wall. It will be the centerpiece in the museum’s center hall.

Leoti museum officials hope to have a grand unveiling of the flag on June 14 – Flag Day, Walk said.

This story was originally published March 8, 2015 at 8:14 PM with the headline "U.S. flag donated to Leoti museum to fly again 150 years after Lincoln’s death."