34 Star Grand Luminary Flag used in President Lincoln's Funeral.
U.S. National Flag 34 stars in the Great Star or Great Luminary pattern. Boldly stenciled at the top is "J. DISNEY MAKER" and at the center, faintly hand-penciled in large cursive initials; "NYCRR", for New York Central Railroad.

This flag sports a large, lively Civil War era rendition of the famed "great star" pattern with bold flower-like stars tightly packed together. This flag was once among the holdings of the Hannibal Museum of History and Space in Missouri. It is accompanied by a large museum display card which states that the flag flew above the New York Central Railroad Station at Albany on April 26, 1865, when President Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Train stopped for a day and a night on its journey to Springfield, Illinois.

After Lincoln's assassination and death, on April 14th and 15th, 1865, an elaborate funeral cortege by railroad was planned. Not only would he be honored in Washington where he had died and Springfield, Illinois where he had had his law practice, but at all of the stops that he had made on his journey east in 1861 including stops in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, New York City, Albany, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Chicago. At each stop his body would lay in state so that the nation might mourn its fallen martyr. This flag, made in 1861 by J. Disney of Albany, New York still was flying when Lincoln's funeral train arrived at Albany on the tracks of the New York Central Railroad on April 26th, 1865. After the passage of the funeral procession, a day later, the station master of the railroad at Albany lowered this flag for the last time and took it home with him as a souvenir of the passage. His family retained it for three generations. It was acquired by the Hannibal museum in the mid 1980's through Americana/militaria dealer Paul Millikan, only to be sold at public auction in the early 90's when the museum was forced to claim bankruptcy. It was subsequently acquired by Missouri antique dealer James Burrus and thereafter added to the Zaricor Collection.

Exhibition History:

First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC1241)
38-Star Grand Luminary United States Flag.

Special Memorial Day Display
Suspended from ceiling of Moraga Room.
Presidio of San Franciscos Officers Club
Memorial Day 2003

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - Gallery III
(ZFC1241)
38-Star Grand Luminary United States Flag.

Presidential Debate
Washington University at St. Louis
October, 2004
(ZFC1241)

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library
LIFE AND TIMES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN: The Exhibit
Simi Valley, CA
1 June 2014 to 30 September 2014

Publication History:
Crump, Anne, David Studarus, photographer, "A Grand Old Obsession." American Spirit: Daughters of the American revolution Magazine: July/August 2003: P.19 (illustrated).

Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 143.

Schrambling, Regina, "A Lifelong Pledge." Collection, Published by Robb Report, June 2014, p. 48D.

Provenance:
• Property of the New York Central Railroad Company.
• Flew over the NY Railroad Depot in Albany when Abraham Lincoln's procession arrived in Albany.
• Preserved by the Station Master and retained in his family for over 100 years.
• Acquired by antique dealer Paul Milikan in the mid-1980s.
• Acquired by the Hannibal Museum of History and Space in Missouri from Paul Milikan.
• Purchased through Auction in 1993 after the Hannibal Museum filed for bankruptcy by James Burrus.
• Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection in 1999 from James Burrus.


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