Henderson gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1911-19??, 1911-05-11
MAJOR O. R. SMITHS SPEECH
Gold Medal to Mrs. Winborne, at
Wilson, N. c., on May 10th.

Major o. r. Smith. the designer of the
STARS and Bars" at the presentation
Of a badge of the Daughters OF the Con
federacy to Mrs. Winborne, who made
the first Confederate flag, as designed by
Mr. Smith, made the following address
at Wilson Yesterday:
Just hall A century. ago my old frleno
Becky Murphy" made the first flag OF
the Confederate States OF America.
! 1t was the middle of February, 1861,
that | went to John Barrow's store, ct
Louisburg, North Carolina, where | was
then living, and bought some red, white
and blue dress stuff and carried it to
Miss Rebecca Murphy, you know her as
Mrs. Winborne) and asked her to make
me little flag. | tore the strips and
cut the five pointed stars while she put
in the stitches 1t was nine by twelve
inches, and as soon as | finished sent it
to the Flag Committee, at Montgomery,
Alabama.
After the flag had gone, l began to
think: suppose they did not select my
flag as the model for the Confederate
flag; then there would never be one of
my flags raised aloft. As the colors, the
three bars and the number of stars on
the blue field, and the arrangement OF
stars and bars all helped to tell che story
that | hoped would be read by those
who saw my flag, | made up my mind
that there should be, one of my flags
floating in the Old North State. So
bought some worsted goods and took
it to Miss Becky" and asked her to
make me large flag, 9x12 feet, Just like
the small one. By the time this flag was
finished the people of the town and in
the county were all interested, and on
Monday, March 18th, 1861, when l
raised this flag to the top of a pole 100
feet high, Louisburg was filled with peo
pie who had come to see the new flag.
They showed much enthusiasm and
made the day big holiday. The flag
pole had planted on the corner OF the
courthouse square of this old town, the
county seat of Franklin.
Today, May 10th, 1911, fifty years
later we are the guests of the John W.
Durham Chapter, .. D. c., of the hospit
able and friendly town OF Wilson, to 10
Mrs. WinbOrne honor and to present toa
her the badge of the United Daughters
of the Confederacy, which 1 was asked
to pin on her with my hands. | am
doubly glad fer her to have the badge.
1t was our flag, hers and mine. 1t is
/ ~" oul nag, yours anu iulHe-GHo
Stars and Bars'-the flag that led the
oism and to the highest glory won by
any soldiers of any country.
1t is the flag that was chosen, as
their emblem by the Daughters OF the
Confederacy-the lOveliest and best wO-
men of the wCrld.
The badge is of gold. The Daugh-
ters should have the purest of all metals,
| TO wear, just as we old soldiers should
| have our badges made Of the cannon we
used in the sixties, when we proved to
all men, most OF all the "Men in Blue"
| that we knew how to use them and how
] to make each shot tell.
! Bonaparte instituted the "Order of the
Iron Crown" and for one of his SOL
diers to own the badge of this order was
to possess the greatest honor he could
bestOw, so we, the men who followed
Lee, value our Iron Crosses" They ale
our ~. c." and they bear the names of
our Southern queens-the U. D. G., to
whom we old men owe so much.
These women of the South, the Memo
rial Association and the United Daugh-
ters of the Confederacy, have raised
monuments to our dead comrades, have
kept their glorious deeds from being for
gotten, and are making our last days,
by such occasions as this, days of pleas
antness and peace. And this great work
OF theirs has been going on since 1862,
when the women of Warren county, the
cornerstone OF the Daughters of the Con-
federacy, began the monument to Annie
Carter Lee, which was erected in 1866,
and to which [ gave the finishing touch
es, by putting the capstone in position,
before the hundreds of people gathered
before the cemetery at Jones Springs. to
honor the memory OF Our Chieftains
daughter, and to hear James Barron
Hope deliver the ode he had written for
that great day.
Daughters, to your president Mrs.
/ Herring, the success of this day is due,
but to each of you who has so willingly
and ably assisted her, give my best
thanks. And the good old town of Will
son who has SO enthusiastically helped
the John W. Durham Chapter to give us
a happy day, | thank with all my heart.
Madam President, thank you for in
viting me to be here today, and give
thanks to you and to every one who has
assisted you in any way to make this
such a great day for my old friend, ),
Becky" Murphy Winborne Old COM
rades, friends. let us all give rising vote
OF thanks to these lovely women, our
hostesses. who have made this to US
the red letter day of 1911.