{"id":2912,"date":"2016-01-07T08:07:03","date_gmt":"2016-01-07T13:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=2912"},"modified":"2025-03-04T09:46:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T14:46:51","slug":"flagpole-honors-uncle-sams-150th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/flagpole-honors-uncle-sams-150th-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Flagpole honors Uncle Sam\u2019s 150th birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Uncle<\/a>
Uncle Sam’s new flagpole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Uncle Sam\u2019s gravesite, located at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, N.Y., has a new 40-foot flagpole<\/a> and a fresh American flag<\/a> to go with it, thanks to a windstorm and Gettysburg Flag Works of East Greenbush. The installation is perfectly timed: 2016 marks the 150th anniversary of Uncle Sam\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n

Oakwood describes itself as \u201cone of America\u2019s largest rural cemeteries\u201d and \u201cthe final resting place of many of the area\u2019s most prominent citizens, including [the] progenitor of the famous Uncle Sam icon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Samuel<\/a>
Samuel Wilson’s grave<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"General<\/a>
General Thomas’s grave at Oakwood Cemetery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Others interred there include General George Thomas, known during the Civil War as \u201cthe rock of Chickamauga\u201d for his key victory in Tennessee. Although born in Virginia, Thomas fought for the North, and President Ulysses S. Grant attended his funeral service at Oakwood in 1870.<\/p>\n

Thomas was a real person. So was Samuel Wilson of Troy, born in 1766. He was a meatpacker who provided food to U.S. troops stationed in upstate New York during the War of 1812. When his provisions arrived in barrels with the stamp of \u201cU.S.\u201d on them, soldiers joked that the letters stood for \u201cUncle Sam.\u201d In 1961, Congress officially connected Wilson to the iconic image of Uncle Sam.<\/p>\n

\"Uncle<\/a>
Uncle Sam flagpole marker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The real Uncle Sam Wilson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bernard Vogel, chief administrator of Oakwood Cemetery, said that the need for a new flagpole near Wilson\u2019s gravesite resulted from a fierce storm in the autumn of 2015. A huge tree fell, he said, and \u201cmissed all of the graves but bent the flagpole<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

After filing an insurance claim and getting quotes for a replacement, Vogel continued, \u201cwe went with Gettysburg Flag Works,\u201d in part because it was a business based in the town where Uncle Sam delivered his goods.<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/a>
Mike & Sean pose with the new flagpole.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vogel credited the flag company with doing the installation \u201cvery quickly. Before I knew it, they were gone.\u201d The work included removing the bottom of the former pole that was still in place and putting up the new one.<\/p>\n

Mike Cronin, owner of Gettysburg Flag Works, stocks all sorts of flag-related merchandise, including poles. The largest flagstaff he has ever put in place, he said, rises 100 feet.<\/p>\n

The aluminum pole<\/a> he installed at Oakwood Cemetery now flies a 6×10-foot all-weather nylon American flag<\/a> with a high-wind rating so that the next storm won\u2019t topple the staff \u2013 or rip Old Glory.<\/p>\n

\"Uncle<\/a>
Uncle Sam’s flagpole stone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Mike<\/a>\u201cIt looks beautiful,\u201d Cronin said of the Oakwood installation, which was completed in time for the sesquicentennial of the real Uncle Sam\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(For further information, visit www.oakwoodcemetery.org<\/a> and www.gettysburgflag.com<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"First<\/a>
First Flag Hoisted<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uncle Sam\u2019s gravesite, located at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, N.Y., has a new 40-foot flagpole and a fresh American flag to go with it, thanks to a windstorm and Gettysburg Flag Works of East Greenbush. The installation is perfectly timed: 2016 marks the 150th anniversary of Uncle Sam\u2019s birth. Oakwood describes itself as \u201cone of… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[140,199],"class_list":["post-2912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-flagpole","tag-uncle-sam"],"yoast_head":"\nFlagpole honors Uncle Sam\u2019s 150th birthday<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Uncle Sam\u2019s gravesite, located at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, N.Y., has a new 40-foot flagpole and a fresh American flag to go with it, thanks to a windstorm.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/flagpole-honors-uncle-sams-150th-birthday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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