Flag Quilt, ca. 1880
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GUEST:
Captain William A. McClellan is my second great-grandfather. He served in the Union Army in the Civil War. He started out as a second lieutenant in Company D, the 84th Indiana Volunteers. Throughout the course of the war, he elevated and ranked to, when he mustered out, he was a captain. The quilt has come down through my family. We believe that it was actually made for the period of time when he was attending the reunions of the Grand Army of the Republic.
APPRAISER:
I looked him up in the census and recognized that he was a farmer.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And that struck me as interesting, because most officers, when they mustered in as a lieutenant or a captain, they had some above average education. McClellan was 25...
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
...I don't know if you knew that, when he mustered in…
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
…which was relatively old.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And that may be why he mustered in as a second lieutenant in a position of authority. The 84th was a Western theater group. Your feeling about the quilt, that it is a postwar quilt, I think is probably correct. I think that you're right, that it probably has something to do with the G.A.R., or the Grand Army of the Republic...
GUEST:
Right. Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...which, of course, is the Union soldiers' veterans organization…
GUEST:
Organization
APPRAISER:
…that, that started out not long after the war ended.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
So it may have been made for his participation in G.A.R. encampments and he took it with him. I'll bet you that it was his wife who made this, and made it for him...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...to put on his camp cot. The flags make this quilt. Flags in, in themselves are, are often incorporated into quilts.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But this particular example is really, really striking. When you look closely at the name, it's stitched in red, and it's not close stitching.
GUEST:
No.
APPRAISER:
It's very loose stitching. Have you ever thought about, "Gee, I wonder what this thing could be worth?"
GUEST:
Maybe $1,000.
APPRAISER:
In the right kind of auction, with historical items...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...that related to the Civil War or American history, this quilt would probably sell for $10,000 to $15,000. Now, that's just someone, potentially, who is an Indiana Civil War collector.
GUEST:
Civil War, yeah.
APPRAISER:
It might even sell for more in an auction of folk art and Americana to someone who is a quilt collector.
GUEST:
Collector.
APPRAISER:
I would probably feel pretty comfortable telling you an insurance value of this would be $20,000.
GUEST:
Wow. When my mother gave it to me, it was, like, "Wow. Why did you keep this hidden all these years?" (laughs)
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