A one-of-its-kind flag that draped former President Abraham Lincoln\u2019s casket during his funeral procession has found a new home in the Big Apple \u2014 at a Midtown steakhouse.<\/p>\n
Keens Steakhouse<\/a>, the 141-year-old white tablecloth joint known for its extensive collection of Americana memorabilia, unveiled the gargantuan, half-million dollar auction find during a private unveiling ceremony Thursday.<\/p>\n A massive American flag that draped over former President Abraham Lincoln\u2019s casket following his assassination was unveiled at Keens Steakhouse Thursday. Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s truly a treasure,\u201d Keens Steakhouse general manager Julia Lisowski told The Post of the historic flag, which was used in procession after Lincoln was assassinated in office in 1865. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really special and amazing piece of history that we are so honored to have here.\u201d<\/p>\n The 37-star American flag \u2013 believed to be the only surviving casket flag from Lincoln\u2019s funeral train from Washington DC to his burial site in Springfield, Illinois \u2013 will be permanently displayed in the restaurant\u2019s second-floor \u201cLincoln Room\u201d treasure trove of presidential artifacts,<\/a> where history is served alongside mutton chops and Porterhouse steak.<\/p>\n The flag\u2019s new digs marks somewhat of a return home to New York, Lisowski said, as it was commissioned from storied Fulton Street-based flag maker Annin & Company, known as the largest and oldest flag making operation in the nation.<\/p>\n As part of the funeral train procession, it traveled on a 1,600-mile journey through hundreds of US towns in 1865\u2013 and even passed through City Hall in Manhattan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s truly a treasure,\u201d Lisowski told The Post. \u201cIt\u2019s a really special and amazing piece of history that we are so honored to have here.\u201d Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n Known as the Applegate Flag due to its provenance handed down through generations of the descendants of army doctor Lewis Applegate\u2019s family for more than 150 years, the flag was first gifted to the physician from Sen. Edwin D. Morgan \u2014 who was one of only six Senate pallbearers who rode with the funeral train, Lisowski said.<\/p>\n After exiting the Applegate lineage in 1977 and exchanging hands in two other families, the flag was donated to the Museum of Southern History in Jacksonville, Florida in 1996 \u2014 until it was rediscovered \u201cdown a dark hallway behind a bookcase\u201d during an inventory check in 2023.<\/p>\n