Note: This post was originally published in the Stickneys of Texas newsletter in fall 2013.

As I am putting together this second issue of the Stickneys of Texas newsletter, I will have made my fourth trip to Baltimore, three trips within the last three months. At the end of July, my sister, Beverly and I began a road trip just short of three thousand miles, that we will never forget.

We took three days to drive to Baltimore, our first stop in Memphis for a great lunch at the Bar-B-Q Shop and stumbling onto the historic Sun Recording Studio. Before reaching Nashville we jogged over to the Neches Trace to see the Meriwether Lewis Memorial. The second morning we toured the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson’s home) and then suffered through bumper to bumper traffic getting to Gatlinburg, through Pigeon Forge so we could be in the Smoky Mountains and to satisfy a shopping fix. We toured Jefferson’s Monticello the third morning and arrived in Baltimore in time to enjoy a pub dinner at Mick O’Shea’s in the Mt. Vernon area of downtown Baltimore. On our first visit to Baltimore in May 2012 we went to the various cemeteries to view the graves of our ancestors and at Old St. Paul’s Cemetery, where Jesse and Hannah Fearson and a few of their children are buried, we found Jesse’s grave marker lying face down in the lawn. A month prior to our road trip, I contacted a monument company and had them retrieve the marker hoping to simply have it repaired and correctly reinstalled on Jesse’s grave, but alas the marble marker came out in three pieces and had been lying in the ground too long absorbing water so that one side, (unfortunately the side that might contain his birth date was completely sloughed off. So we had no other choice but to have a new marker made.

The next day Beverly and I got to participate in the re-creation of the Star Spangle Banner that I wrote about in the first issue and one reason that prompted me to start this newsletter. This was done at the Maryland Historical Society Museum and Library where we had to first practice stitching on scraps, before we could sew on the actual flag. We visited with the other stitchers and ladies in charge and had the story of how we were connected to the flag recorded by the society’s film photographer. The next day we came back and put a few stitches in one of the stars, which were uniquely reversed appliquéd just like Mary Pickersgill did on the original flag. In between sewing we did some research in the society’s library and discovered a couple more of the Jesse and Hannah Fearson’s children in their books on church records.

Beverly was unable to go back with me to the flag raising on September 14th, the 199th anniversary of the bombardment of Baltimore, but my husband, Dave, was glad to go and we turned it into a week of visiting historic places. The events of this trip began on Friday where a small group of us carried the flag all the way from the Society’s downtown museum to Fort McHenry stopping at Federal Hill where a large group of reenactors met us and fired off their muskets and a canon. The next day Ft. McHenry National Park was full of people to watch reenactments, listen to speeches by the governor and others, and to see the new flag raised in the fort. The stitchers and their one guest were the only ones allowed inside the fort when it was raised, that being said there were a lot of stitchers. It was emotional to watch the re-created banner rise on the flagpole and interesting to see the unusual effect the old style fabric had as it rippled in the slight breeze.

The evening ended with the U. S. Army Band playing patriotic music and a finale of fireworks, reminiscent of the bombardment. We were told by several people that next year’s festivities on the 200th anniversary would be even bigger and it would be great if we could muster a larger contingency of the Stickneys of Texas next September. I have been able to verify that Henry Stickney was indeed in the Fort when this battle took place and Park Ranger Vince is sending copies of Henry’s War of 1812 pension records. We have two very good reasons to take part in this celebration, actually three patriotic ancestors, if we include visiting Jesse Fearson’s grave. In fact the commander of Ft. McHenry, George Armistead is buried just a few plots away from Jesse and Hannah. It will be necessary to include a side trip to Washington D. C. to see Mary Pickersgill’s original flag on display at the Smithsonian. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us for the 200th anniversary celebrations.