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Standing on the
steps of the County Court House in Centre Square
on July 8, 1776,Robert Levers, the County Clerk,
read the Declaration of Independence to the
assembled citizens of Northampton County. To
mark this momentous event, the assembled crowd
unfurled a homemade, hand sewn flag. |
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We believe that the flag displayed in
the Marx Room is the same flag that was present
in Centre Square in 1776.
The flag appeared again on September 6, 1814,
when it was presented by George Beidleman's 14
year old daughter, Rosanna, to Captain Abraham
Horn's Company as they left for Camp DuPont,
Marcus Hook, for service in the War of 1812. |
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At the conclusion of the war, the Company
disbanded and returned home with the flag.
Members of Captain Horn's Company, along with
Captain Peter Nungesser's Company of Light
Infantry, formed the Easton Union Guards in
1816. In 1821 they decided to deposit the flag
with the Easton Library Company for safe keeping
in Library Hall on North Second Street. |
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At the time of the Sesquicentennial held in
Philadelphia in 1926, the flag was removed from
its pole, placed between two pieces of plate
glass and framed for exhibition. On its return,
it was bolted to the east wall of the Easton
Public Library's marble stairway in the front
entrance to the Carnegie building. |
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In 1947, Katharine F. Richey stitched the flag
to Irish linen using the best preservation
techniques at the time. The flag, in its heavy
oak case, was moved to its new location in 1968
when the addition to the Library was completed.
The flag was removed from its case in 2000 for
conservation and restoration by Fonda Ghirardi
Thomsen, whose firm, Textile Preservation
Associates, Inc., restored all the Civil War
flags in Harrisburg. |
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Careful examination of the banner shows that
each of the thirteen, eight pointed stars, which
are seven inches across from point to point, is
slightly different from all the others. The flag
is made of two kinds of material, the stripes
being grosgrain and the field India silk. The
indigo blue field is in two pieces. The stripes
were pieced together, the white stripes showing
more patching than the red. The flag measures
overall 55" by 97". |
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Precise dating of the flag has been a matter of
controversy and historical research since the
1890s. Locally, it is felt that the women of
Easton actually made the flag for the occasion
of the reading of the Declaration, and it was
forgotten for some years until the War of 1812. |
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