GAR flag blog DRAFT version

For almost one-hundred years this flag had been displayed in this case. Unfortunately gravity and sunlight damaged the sensitive fabrics. 

We recently had it conserved and now long may it stand, safely behind glass. 

We invite you to celebrate the dedication and interpretation of the flag and it's history. 

Friday April 12 at 4pm 

For details click this link here. 

or here. 

Saturday, May 11 from 10:30 - 11:30 am 

For details click this link here. 

add more detail history of it's preservation or just short summary with link to more details in another blog? 

FOL paid $300 for assessment condition report and recommendations by Museum Textile Services

$20,000 moose plate grant 

thanks to ... list 

NH State Council on the Arts, 

etc. 

This flag was used as a processional or parade flag by the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) to honor Civil War veterans. The GAR was a ...

The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization of Civil War veterans, founded in 1866, based on the principles of “Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty.” By 1890, 409,489 members belonged to 7,000 local chapters (Posts) spread across the North and West.

The 42-star flag was never an official American flag but would have been used for a short period of time in 1890.

more on the question of date here or below?

The flag has silk taffeta stripes and canton with gold painted stars and four white silk satin ribbons that tie to a flagstaff. The flag is assembled with machine stitching and the fringe is hand stitched.

according to the conservator's report "

For decades following the Civil War, aging soldiers would march through the streets along with GAR flags, despite their fragility. Many times, photographs of these parades remain, but the people and the flags do not. Yours is the rare case in which a flag shows proof of having been on display, was known to have been hand carried in procession on a pole, and still can be carefully handled, mounted, and framed more than 150 years later." 

To help celebrate the preservation and interpretation of the flag, the Conway Public Library will display related items from it's collection and items graciously lent by the Conway Historical Society.

The Henney History Room has this portrait of George Staples Pitts. 

insert images of the pitts letters and transcript of the text. 

left click on the image to enlarge the image and then right click on the image to save as to download it to your computer. 

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letter one image 

letter one transcript 

1st letter 

Headquarters Custer Post 47 Dept NH GAR

To the Trustees of Jenks Memorial Building Conway 

Gentleman 

The three surviving members of the Post respectfully request that they may place the flag owned and carried by the Post for the last fourty four years, in the Library Building, to be kept and preserved there for all future time. 

George S. Pitts 

George F. Ricker? check with gar record book

James R. Thurston

letter two image

page 1

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letter two image

page 2

letter two transcript 

Conway, May 28, 1924

To the Trustees of the Jenks Memorial Library of Conway

You have so kindly consented to the request of the three members of Custer Post, no 47 of the GAR to receive and perpetuate their flag carried by them for forty-four years. 

I had hoped to present it to you personally, being the Commander of the Post  and the longest in office, but sickness and infirmities of age make it impossible for me to do it. 

Therefor, I delegate the President of Custer Relief Corps no 71, Dept of New Hampshire, or any whom she may direct, to perform this duty for me. 

We assure you that this will be considered a great honor to the surviving families of the Post. 

We know that this flag represented them at more than a hundred battle fields, in the great War of the Rebellion and we know that you will faithfully carry out our wishes and desires, also to place the Commander’s picture with the flag, according to your request. 

George S. Pitts

Custer Post no 47 Dept of NH

Commander for eighteen years

Pitts died in December of that same year

insert link to his obit on our online edition of the Reporter News here. 

note the obit he moved to conway from mass in 1890

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The Henney History Room of the Conway Public Library has a number of resources for those interested in honoring veterans. We have a collection of books and archives that cover all eras for American military service. 

Especially interesting for locals is the record book for the Conway GAR post number 47 listing the names of over one hundred members along with information of their age, birthplace, occupation, service records, nature of wounds received and so on. 

insert pics this book

scan and post the whole book

names, etc. in spreadsheet 

The records in this book date from Sept 26, 1879 to 1923. We are hoping to locate more records from our local GAR post. We are continuing to research the flag and it's history. At this point we do not know when this GAR post was actually established, when or where they got the flag, or why the post was named "Custer."

stories of cannonballs and 

parrot shells.
smooth bore muzzleloader 


Of a more dramatic nature is this book, Sparks for the Camp Fire. Lusciously illustrated, the subtitle lists its contents as "Heroic deeds, brave encounters, desperate battles, bold achievements, reckless daring, lofty patriotism, terrible suffering and wondrous fortitude..."

insert pic this book


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William Marvel, author of numerous Civil War related books such as Race of the Soil, The Neighbor's War, and ...

... will be on hand at both events to answer questions. 

To help understand more about the GAR the CHS will display ... 

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beautifully bound 

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...familiar surnames such as Eastman, Merrill, and Seavey. 


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In the HHR we can help you trace your family's history and genealogy to the Civil War

insert Stephen 

one of the GAR traditions that continues today is the marking of gravestones with ... 

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insert pic grave marker, etc. 

from here. 

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borrow from Mike Tamulis

see our previous blogs here and here. 

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Selected Sources Used in Preparation of Label

George G. Kane, Compiler. The Grand Army of the Republic in New Hampshire. Wilton, New
Hampshire: Typescript by George G. Kane, 1997. (NHHS Library)

Georgia Drew Merrill, Editor. History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Illustrated. (Boston,
Massachusetts: W. A. Ferguson & Company, 1889), 182-185.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Army_of_the_Republic Accessed November 26, 2023.

James A. Marten. Sing Not War: the Lives of Union & Confederate Veterans in Gilded Age
America. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2011.

Stuart McConnell. Glorious Contentment: The Grand Army of the Republic, 1865-1900. Chapel
Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1997.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer Accessed November 25, 2023.

Edward Caudill and Paul Ashdown. Inventing Custer: The Making of an American Legend.
Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015.

James Donovan. A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn. The Last Great Battle of the
American West. Boston, Massachusetts: Little Brown and Company, 2009.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. (Boston,
Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 2014), 146.


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