The Star-Spangled Banner Flag-- Part 7: Eben Appleton and Georgianna Appleton

Eben Appleton donated the flag with the request that it always remain on view for the public.

From Find-A-Grave.

Full Brock-Perryname:  Ebenezer Stuart "Eben" Appleton.

Born 19 August 1845 in Baltimore.  Death 1 June 1925.

Buried at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.

Mother Georgeanna Louise Frances Armistead.  Born 1817, Died 25 July 1878.  Buried Old St. paul's Cemetery, Baltimore

Given the Fort McHenry flag by her father, Lt. Col. George Armistead.  The flag was presented to the Massachusetts Historical Society.  (Not sure about this.)

--Brock-Perry

The Star-Spangled Banner Flag-- Part 6: Eben Appleton

From the Star-Spangled Banner, Smithsonian.

Eben Appleton was a New York stockbroker who inherited the Star-Spangled Banner upon his mother's death in 1878.  The flag had received a lot of publicity in the 1870s which had transformed it  into a national treasure.  Eben Appleton received a whole lot of requests to lend it for patriotic occasions.  He did lend it to the City of Baltimore for its sesquicentennial in 1880.

After that he became concerned about the flag's deteriorating condition so he began keeping it in a safe deposit box in New York City.

In 1907, he loaned it to the Smithsonian and in 1912 converted it into a gift.

--Brock-Perry

The Star-Spangled Banner Flag-- Part 5: Three More Fragments

From Natural Museum of American History, Smithsonian.

The museum has three fragments of the Star-Spangled Banner that were presented to William Carter bybalt Major Armistead's grandson, Eben Appleton.  Carter was a local historian who carried the flag in a parade during Baltimore's Sesquicentennial Celebration 13 October 1880.

The flag was later being packed for shipment to New York and Appleton cut off three pieces and gave them to Carter.  Later, Carter's daughter gave the pieces to the Maryland Historical Society who later donated them to the Smithsonian.

--Brock-Perry

The Star-Spangled Banner Flag-- Part 4: 25-Hour Bombardment and Gifted to the Smithsonian

The British fleet bombarded Fort McHenry for 25 hours between September 13-14, 1814.  When they were unable to force the fort to surrender, the attack ended and they sailed off.  The flag was still flying.

This so impressed Francis Scott Key that he wrote his famous poem "The Defence of Fort McHenry."  This became the "Star-Spangled Banner" that we know today.

The flag that flew there at the end of the bombardment became a significant artifact, yet remained in the possession of Major Armistead and later, his family.  He was promoted to brevet lieutenant-colonel for his action.

Eben Appleton, his grandson, inherited the flag in 1878.  In 1907, he loaned it to the Smithsonian Institution and in 1912 made it a formal gift.

--Brock-Perry