Unexpected History: Henry Keene's Flag

by Susan Zehnder, Education Director

This fall, I’ve been teaching students about the American flag. Almost 400 Elmira City School District first grade students have colored the United States flag and created a flag that represent themselves, and they are now hanging in our entry way. I encourage you to drop by to see them before we change exhibits in early January.

During my research into our museum's flag collection, I came across a flag that dates to the mid-19th century.

At first glance, it’s not very remarkable. The blue field of 34 stars is haphazardly printed, while the red and white stripes have been sewn together by hand. Any repairs, of which there are a few, are hand-stitched. What caught my attention was the story that goes along with it—the story of a man who experienced major parts of American history, from the Civil War to westward expansion and the building of railroads, before settling in Elmira, where he would be a prominent citizen for over forty years. 

 

The flag belonged to Henry L. Keene, born in 1847 in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of Galen D. Keene and Anna B. Tierney. When he was young, his family moved to Buffalo, NY, where Henry attended public school. He was thirteen years old when the Civil War broke out, and at fifteen, he joined the 16^th New York Volunteer Calvary. Throughout the war, his unit fought alongside the Army of the Potomac and saw action in more than twenty notable battles, including Gettysburg. They also helped to pursue and kill John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin. Members of the same regiment later stood guard at the prison where others connected to the president’s assassination were held. It was spring 1865.

 

In August of that year, Henry, now 18, was discharged from the Army. He returned to Buffalo and took a job with the American Express Company, then in the business of moving freight. In 1873, he married Catherine E. Dorst. When the westward push into the continent began, American Express, along with the Wells Fargo Express Company, put considerable effort into enlarging the country’s railroad system. Henry was sent to Kansas, where he worked on expansion and construction of a rail line between Kansas City and Denver. Some of Henry’s duties involved handling land skirmishes and “Indian fighting.”

 

During this period, he spent time at Cheyenne, Wyoming, and at Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio. It was at Fort Hayes that Henry became acquainted with General George Armstrong Custer and other U.S. military leaders. In 1876, the year Custer died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (also known as the Battle of the Greasy Grass), Henry returned to Buffalo. In 1877, his and Catherine’s son Frederick was born, the first of their six children.

 

In 1887, Henry was appointed city agent for the Elmira, Cortland and Northern Railroad (later renamed the Lehigh Valley Railroad) and moved his family to Elmira. They lived at 550 West Washington Avenue.  

When he retired from the railroad, Henry took a job as chief clerk of records at the Reformatory, working under Zebulon R. Brockway, the institution’s influential superintendent. In this capacity, he worked with clerks at the Nappanock and Auburn prisons. His reputation for trustworthiness became widespread and well known. 

 

Henry was appointed Supreme Court crier for Chemung County, in charge of court business and order. He proudly served in the position until the political administration changed. 

 

He also maintained ties to the military and other veterans. He worked actively with the Grand Army of the Republic and served as the commander for the Baldwin Post, No. 6.  He was appointed trustee of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Bath, NY, and served as president of the home for more than five years. In 1924, he was elected commander of the Department of New York’s annual encampment at Schenectady, an honor he called one of his greatest achievements.

Henry and Catherine had been married for fifty-one years when she died in 1924. Four years later, Henry, now 81, died from surgical complications. His daughter, Edna Keene Goodwin, held his funeral at her home at 262 Lyon Street in Elmira. It was common practice at the time to put the dead on display in the parlor for friends and family to pay their respects. The Rev. Albert Cornwell of The Park Church officiated, and Henry L. Keene was buried next to his wife in Woodlawn Cemetery. The newspaper noted the loss of one of Elmira’s prominent citizens.

 

The flag in question was donated to the Chemung County Historical Society in 1989 by a relative, H. Frederick Goodwin. While it is somewhat tattered, the story connected to its owner is remarkable.