Washington sentinel., 1898-07-23
A Piece OF General Lafayette's
standard

standard.
One of the oldest flags, and per-
haps the greatest treasure OF its
kind in Chicago, lis in the possession
Of Ferdinand Jones. In these days,
when an oppressed island is max
ing a desperate struggle to place a
new emblem among the flags of the
earth, a piece OF a red, white and
blue banner which waved over the
forces that fought for and won our
independence is of unusual inter
est
The strip of bunting which is so
highly priced by Mr.. Jones was
par of one OF the first flags that
1oated IN the revolutionary war.
Interest in the relic is augmented
greatly by the fact that this flag
was the banner Of the brave Mar
quis Of Lafayette. Most Of the
time when it saw service it decor
ated the headquarters of the Gen
eral, but time and again he
marched beneath its folds.
When General Lafayette re.
turned to his native France, alter
the close of the war, he carried
back with him as a memento the
big flag which had been constantly
before his eyes while he Valiantly
and generously battled for for
elgn country in its struggle for
liberty. The banner was taken by
the Marquis to his old home, La
Grange, which is situated some
thirty or iorty miles from Paris
Here for more than a century his
descendants have preserved the
flag as an invaluable souvenir.
A few years ago, when Mr..
Jones was travelling in France, he
paid a visit to La Grange to in.
spect the relics ol Lafayette, see
his old home and learn something
OF the commanders personality
from his descendants, who still oc-
cupy the old manor. There was
then living Senator EuuOud Dc
Lafayette, a grandson OF the Mar
quis. The Senator was the only
surviving bearer Of the great name,
and when he died a few years ago
the name periShed as far as this one
family is concerned. Mr.. Jones
was shown every courtesy by the
Senator, and when he departed he
was given a piece ofthe flag OF the
Marquis by the Senator as a souve.
mir OF his visit to La Grange.
The hmnfSnrr - &c
would be considered very coarse
nowadays, but it is certainly sub
stantial. More than a century has
apparently had little effect upon it.
The piece Of flag has in it the width
OF a red stripe, and part Of the
width OF a white one. The white
has a slightly Yellowish tinge, but
the red has scarcely faded at all.
The piece was about two feet in
width and about three in length,
The flag originally was twelve or
fifteen feet in width and eighteen
or twenty feet in length. The
stripes were thirteen inches wide
and the stars in the corner were
about as large as small dinner
plates. Although the material is
rather heavy wooden It is so loosely
woven that it can almost be seen
through. The strip belonging to
the Chicago old settler was cut
from the end fartnest from the flag
staff and it had tapped in the
preeze SO long that it IS somewhat
fraYed. Otherwise, with the ex-
ception of little damage done BY
moths, the relic is in perfect con-
diticn.
"This is one OF my most valua-
BILE possessions" said Mr.. Jones,
as he took the strip from a scrap
book and tenderlY unfolded it. sit
was cut from the old flag by the
Generals last descendant, who
bore the name of Lafayette, aud it
was cut off for me. l suppose no
one will blame me for prizing it
very highly. do not know any
particular details connected with
its history. The Marquis told his
grandson that much ofthe time the
banner, which was extremely large,
was used as a decoration in his
headquarters, but he also said that
he had marched under it many
times. - Chicago Chy0H5cle.