Flags were rare in the early 19th century. Generally, you did not see one unless you went to a major city, and even then, flags were sparse with some Americans not even knowing what a star spangled banner looked like…you just didn't see one on an everyday basis. When an American flag went up over the public schoolhouse in Catamount Hill, a rude one-room log "cabin" still on the fringes of America's frontier, it was a big deal. It’s been celebrated as America's first school flag and the raising of this banner signaled an era that would begin with a second contest of military might against Great Britain, followed by unprecedented growth, finally laying the permanent foundations of this new nation.
Catamount Hill lies near the town of Colrain, in Franklin County, Massachusetts. The schoolhouse and the village have disappeared, but the American flag raised in May of 1812 to open education to all, remains. Allegedly the schoolhouse flag stayed in family hands after originally being taken down in protest, making its way to Idaho, passed down from one generation to the next. In the 1980's, those in possession of the flag had it tested by the Smithsonian, and after documentary research and evidence was presented, declared the flag authentic. It was acquired by the Colrain Historical Society, and now rests in the collection. This is perhaps one of the most significant flags from American history, if it is indeed the actual flag.
Early 19th century Massachusetts was a very different place
from that bastion of Liberty in the 18th. Pro-British sentiment had
creeped back into the psyche of those who fervently opposed the Crown a mere generation
before. As war loomed once again with Great Britain, apathy towards
conflict descended on the countryside, many turning towards pacifism and the
desire not to go to war over such trivial matters as “sailor's rights”.
Not everyone shared this view. Amasa Shippee was not willing to forgo
conflict. A former soldier and resident of Catamount Hill, Amasa sought a
grand gesture to message to those Federalists opposed to slapping the British
lion once again. An American flag, over such an important building as the
local schoolhouse, would be just the statement needed. He knew what an
American flag looked like, he had seen one during his previous military
service. Armed with this knowledge, he employed his wife, Rhoda, his
sister-in-law, Lois and two other Catamount residents, Mrs. Willis and Mrs.
Hale, to weave the homespun cloth necessary. Once the white, blue and red
cloth was ready, Amasa drew out the stars and pattern, and the four ladies
commenced construction.
The extant flag purported to be the original measures 4 feet wide with a fly of 9 feet. It has 13 stripes and 16 stars. The real one supposedly had 17 stars and 17 stripes. We will probably never know for sure which is which due to the discrepancy between the object we think is the flag and the description from the historical record. We do know that an American handmade flag was raised and did fly over that log schoolhouse in a scene married to America's almost mystical reverence towards the Frontier. Amasa himself even cut down a pine tree in the local "pine swamp" to serve as the flagpole. Once raised, it was celebrated in a very public ceremony. The flag was taken down at some point by dissenting citizens with "Federalist" anti-war sympathies. It disappeared, tucked away somewhere, while Amasa Shippee and others marched off to fight the British for a second time.
Like many stories peppered throughout the American Experience, it may or may not be true, or accurate. It certainly fits well into the patriotic narrative, incorporating all the elements from America's wild frontier, at a time when the eastern United States stood on the edge of the sea to shining sea destiny.
A monument stands where the "log cabin"
schoolhouse sat, validating the event, the first flag raising over an American
public school, memorializing those who made it happen in native stone.
There's even a new-fangled star-spangled banner to float in the breeze above.
