Famous Fake Bonhomme Flag Unfurled

The more history one consumes, the more connections appear. Last week, for example, I bumped into an illustration from a 1876 edition of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. It shows dozens of formally dressed men – and three women – celebrating in a great hall. Above them, an orchestra is playing and a flag is being unfurled. The big event was the closing ceremonies of the 1876 Bicentennial Exposition at Philadelphia. The flag, according to the caption, once flew above the Bonhomme Richard under Capt. John Paul Jones, who twice lived here in Portsmouth.

I know that flag, I told myself. It’s the infamous Stafford Flag. I checked my notes and, sure enough, the flag was once owned by Mrs. Samuel Bayard Stafford. And it’s true. The flag, reportedly a memento of Jones’ battle with HMS Serapis in 1779, had indeed been on display at the enormous exposition of 1876. What those attending the ceremony were unaware of was that the flag was a fake.

Experts tell us today that the Stafford flag never flew on the Bonhomme Richard, although, for a while, even major museums were fooled. Eighty years after the battle, the flag was produced by descendants of James Stafford who had reportedly been a midshipman on John Paul Jones flagship during the battle, though he is not listed in the roster. According to the story, Stafford had saved the flag after the battle and it was later presented to him by the U.S. Congress. Curiously, it did not show up until 80 years after the famous battle.

A piece of the Stafford “Bonhomme flag” was definitely exhibited at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial. Another piece had earlier been cut off and given to President Abraham Lincoln. The flag reportedly ended up in the Smithsonian Institution, according to printed reports, where it was on display as the authentic article. Scholars later disputed the authenticity of the flag in a letter to the museum and it was withdrawn from view in 1942. When I checked years ago, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian said it was not displayed there at any time.

Digging deeper, I discovered an 1896 article headlined “The Original Starry Flag of Paul Jones.” This effusive patriotic essay claimed the flag was a priceless relic of American history, even though the original Bonhomme flag had gone down with the ship. According to Stafford family legend, their ancestor had jumped into the sea off the British coast to rescue the flag that had been shot off the mast of the Bonhomme Richard by enemy fire. Mrs. Stafford, who believed the flag to be authentic, continued to loan it out for events including the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

By the end of the 19th century, the report says, the flag had been reduced to nearly half its size by scissors-wielding admirers “whose covetousness was greater than their veneration.” The surviving Mrs. Stafford, then elderly, had been forced to encase the flag in glass to protect it from souvenir hunters. In 1896, the flag was available for private viewing in her home at Cottage City on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. There are those, I am told, who still believe the flag is authentic. Then again, there are those who believe in unicorns.

Copyright J. Dennis Robinson, all rights reserved.