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  26 STARS, MADE FOR THE 1844 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF HENRY CLAY & THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, WITH A BEAUTIFUL GREAT STAR CONFIGURATION AND THE VERY RARE PRESENCE OF A 3rd CANDIDATE

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): 32.25" x 39.25"
Flag Size (H x L): 21" x 27.75"
Description....:
26 STARS, MADE FOR THE 1844 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF HENRY CLAY & THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, WITH A BEAUTIFUL GREAT STAR CONFIGURATION AND THE VERY RARE PRESENCE OF A THIRD CANDIDATE, HENRY MARKLE, WHO WAS RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR IN PENNSYLVANIA. ONE OF ONLY TWO KNOWN EXAMPLES IN THIS STYLE:

26 star American parade flag, printed on cotton, made for the 1844 Whig Party presidential campaign of Henry Clay & Theodore Frelinghuysen. The stars are configured in a rare variation of what is known as the "Great Star" configuration, a star made out of stars. But the less apparent beauty of this example lies in the extremely rare presence of the name of a third, gubernatorial candidate, Joseph Markle, who was running for governor of Pennsylvania. Almost no flags exist with this rare feature. Of the 1501 representations of political textiles documented on the 558 pages in Threads of History, by Herbert Ridgeway Collins (Smithsonian Press, 1978), only four such flags are shown. As it happens, one of these is the nearly identical, Democrat Party mate to this flag, which advertises the competing campaign of James Polk & George Dallas, with Francis Shunk as a third candidate, who was running against Markle. While the rare Polk/Dallas/Shunk flag is pictured in the Collins text, the Clay/Frelinghuysen/Markle flag remains undocumented in any text. I am aware of only two known examples of this exact flag, the other of which is badly faded. By contrast, this flag is as near-to-mint as any that will surface from the pre-Civil War era and it survives as a simply extraordinary example, not only of the period, but of the entirety of political flag collecting.

Overprinted in the stripes (and partly entering the canton) is the following text:

HENRY CLAY.
T. FRELINGHUYSEN
AND
JOSEPH MARKLE.
Note how the font was altered for Frelinghuysen, and that Theodore was abbreviated, so that his name could be fit within the available space. Note also how the profound irregularity in the placement of the names, and the presence of the word "and" in a slightly smaller size, help to create a lack of uniformity that adds significantly to the overall folk quality that exists in the whimsical nature of the design.

Among collectors, the Great Star configuration is the most coveted of all 19th century geometric patterns. It probably came about shortly after the War of 1812, Congressman Peter Wendover, of New York, requested that Captain Samuel Reid, a War of 1812 naval hero, create a new design that would become the third official format of the Stars & Stripes. A recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, Reid became harbor master of New York following the war. During his lifetime, he created many innovations in signal use, including a system that could actually send messages from New York to New Orleans by sea in just two hours.

Use as a Naval signal had been the primary reason for the initial creation of an American national flag in the first place, in 1777, but since there was no official star design, the appearance of our flag varied greatly. So Reid and Wendover's primary concern centered on both consistency and ease of recognition. Their hope was as more and more states joined the Union and more and more stars were added to the flag, that it would remain easily identified on the open seas. So in 1818, Reid suggested to Congress that the number of stripes permanently return to 13 (reduced from 15) and that the stars be grouped into the shape of one large star.

Reid's proposal would have kept the star constellation in roughly the same format, in a pattern that could be quickly identified through a spyglass as the number of states grew. His concept for the stripes was ultimately accepted, but his advice on the star pattern was rejected by President James Monroe, due to the increased cost of arranging the stars in what would become known as the "Great Star", "Great Flower", or "Great Luminary" pattern. Monroe probably didn't wish to impose this cost on either the government or civilians, so he suggested a simple pattern of justified rows. Never-the-less, the Great Star was produced by anyone willing to make it and its rarity today, along with its beauty, has driven the desirability of American flags with this configuration.

In this particular example, note how the Great Star is slightly canted to the 1:00 position. Also note how the stars appear in three different sizes. The design consists of a large center star, with a smaller star between each arm in the form of a pentagon, and a perimeter of stars in a third, slightly smaller size. The presence of stars in different sizes on any flag is highly desired and it lends even more impact to this already dynamic pattern.

The 26 star flag became official on July 3rd, 1837, after the addition of Michigan. It remained the official star count until 1845. The earliest known parade flags have either 26 or 13 stars and were made during this 8-year period. The first political campaign flags appeared in the 1840 campaign of William Henry Harrison. The next appeared in 1844 during the campaigns of Clay & Polk, which means that they are among the earliest printed parade flags known to exist.

Political campaign flags are among the most valuable of all Stars & Stripes. When this fact is added to the presence of the third candidate, the Great Star pattern with three sizes of stars, and the very early date among known examples, with the bonus of outstanding condition, the result is one of the best parade flags in existence.

Clay's presidential campaign focused on the creation of a national currency, promotion of agriculture, and protection of American industry through such devices as protective tariffs. The focus was intended to further the advancement of America into the industrial age and limit reliance on foreign goods. As it turned out, this issue was not as important to Americans as westward expansion, which was the platform of the successful presidential candidate, James Polk.

The 1844 Election with Brief Biographical Information on Clay, Frelinghuysen, and Markle:

It is interesting to note that the 1844 election was the first in which an incumbent president, John Tyler, sought nomination and didn't get it, which made Polk the Democrat's dark horse nominee. It is also interesting that Joseph Smith, who founded the Mormon Church in 1847, ran on an independent ticket as a third candidate. No flags or textiles are known to exist from the Smith campaign.

Henry Clay was born in Virginia on April 12th, 1777, about two months before the Stars & Stripes was adopted as the American national flag (June 14th). He studied law at Richmond and moved to Kentucky to practice. Clay became a U.S. Senator in 1806, during the period in which we had just 17 states. He was just 29 years old at the time and a special exception was made because he was not yet 30 years old, the minimum age required for election to the Senate by Constitutional law. This was the beginning of a nearly uninterrupted 46-year term in the House and Senate, where he served as both Speaker and Chairman, respectively. Clay also served as Secretary of State for John Quincy Adams. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency three times, first as a Democratic Republican in 1824, then as a National Republican in 1832, and finally as a Whig in 1844. After the last campaign he returned to the Senate, where he served until his death in 1852.

Theodore Frelinghuysen was born in Franklin, NJ in 1787. Before he ran for vice president, he was an attorney, then a U.S. Senator serving New Jersey, then Mayor of Newark, then Chancellor of New York University. In 1850 he became President of Rutgers College, and remained in that position until his death in 1862. His grandson was Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. There has been a Frelinghuysen in Congress almost continuously since 1779.

Henry Markle served as a captain of the Light Dragoons under General William Henry Harrison during the War of 1812. Following the War he became Major General of the Pennsylvania State Militia for Westmoreland and Fayette counties (greater Pittsburgh). He owned several businesses with hands in paper manufacture, flour, farming, and store-keeping. A supporter of Thomas Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, he voted for Andrew Jackson in his first term, but not his second, due to his position on tariffs and the 1832 presidential run of Henry Clay, of whom Markle became an active supporter. Always a Whig, Markle got behind his former General when Harrison ran in 1836, then won in 1840. Markle ran for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1844 on the Whig ticket with Henry Clay, but likewise lost to the Democrats.

Mounting: The flag has been hand-stitched to 100% cotton, black in color. The cotton was washed to remove excess dye, and an acid-free agent was added to the wash to further set the dye. The flag was then placed in a black painted, hand-gilded and distressed Italian molding. Spacers keep the textile away from the glass, which is u.v. protective.

Condition: There is minor foxing and staining inn the white stripes and stars, accompanied by very minor loss in the white area above the canton, near the hoist. The great rarity of the flag warrants practically any condition and this is an excellent state of preservation.
Collector Level: Flags for the truest Patriots. My best offerings
Flag Type: Parade flag
Star Count: 26
Earliest Date of Origin: 1844
Latest Date of Origin: 1844
State/Affiliation: Pennsylvania
War Association: 1777-1860 Pre-Civil War
Price: SOLD
 

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