Captain William Driver & His Flag, "Old Glory"
William Driver, a New England sea captain, owned
and named the original Old Glory flag. Driver was born March 17, 1803. At
the age of 14, in 1817 or 1818,
William Driver was apprenticed as a cabin boy on the ship, China, bound for
Italy. Driver's first five voyages were: to Italy, two to Calcutta, Gibraltar,
and a voyage to Antwerp and Gothenburg. On his sixth voyage he went to the Fiji
Islands and there after his career was centered in the South Seas.
William Driver took to sea life quickly and was made master of the ship,
Charles Doggett, at the age of 21. On March 17, 1824, as a birthday and farewell gift, his mother
and several young ladies in Salem, MA, sewed him a large American flag 12 feet by 24
feet in size with 24 stars. When presenting it at the outfitting of his ship, it
was hoisted up and unfurled in the wind. Captain Driver was asked what he
thought of it, and he declared, "God bless you, I'll call it 'Old
On 20 Feb. 1827 in Salem, Mass, William married Martha Silsbee
of Capt. Christopher and Ruth (Randall) BABBAGE,. The Rev. Samuel Worcester
married them. Three children were born to them. *
1. William Christopher DRIVER,
born in Salem, Mass. , Oct 12 1827; died in New Orleans, La., July 2,
1874; md. about 1856 in New
Orleans, Anna REECE.
2. Eben Ropes
DRIVER, born in Salem, Mass., Sept. 7, 1833; baptized in the Tabernacle
Church of Salem, Mass., soon after;
for his uncle, Capt. Ebenezer ROPES, brother-in-law to his mother.
On the way to the church an objection being
the ladies (his mother and aunt) to the 'ezer' in the name, it was decided to
call the child Eben;
removed to Nashville with his father in 1837; remained till 1884, when he
settled in Boston.
Martha Silsbee DRIVER, born in Salem, Mass., July 11, 1836, md. in Salem, Mass.,
#1. Edmond UPTON, of Salem, Mass.
William Henry SUMMERS,
son of Capt. William SUMMERS, of Surrey, Eng,
and Mary (SOUTHARD) at St.
Peter's Church (Episcopalian), June 28, 1858, by
Rev. Geo. Leeds, D.D.
1. Martha Ellen SUMMERS, born in Salem, Mass., Nov 17, 1859.
2. Frederick William SUMMERS, born in Salem, Mass., Jan 7, 1866; d., Sept 28th,
1866 buried in the family tomb, Broad Street Burial-Ground.
* [Cooke pg. 182-183]
Captain Driver is best known for his achievements in the South Pacific where
he is known for developing a process for drying sea cucumbers for sale to China
and his returning the Pitcairn Islanders to Pitcairn Island. Charging a nominal fee,
[$500.00] for which he lost a great deal of money, he took
the remaining ill and homesick islanders back over a section of dangerous seas then
called, "The Ocean of Coral Reefs". It is said that this unscheduled voyage cost him
his command. However, the inscription on his tombstone says that he returned the
Pitcairn's on 3 September 1831, and we know that he did not retire from the sea until 1837,
six years later.
Harriet Ruth (Waters) Cooke, William Driver's niece, relates in her
book that," Capt. Driver's last voyage was made in 1837; on returning from
which he found his wife, (Martha), suffering from a cancer of the throat , from
which she soon died; this, and on account of his three young children, he
decided to quit the sea and follow some pursuit on land. (Martha died on 5
September 1837.) [Cooke pg. 175]
Captain Driver was 34 years of age when he retired in 1837, after 20 years at sea. He moved
his young family to Nashville, Tennessee, where his brother, Henry resided at
this time, and his brother Stephen had just opened a retail shoe-store there, as
an outlet for his accumulated goods at the North, to be conducted by their
brother Joseph, accordingly Capt. Driver was induced to become a silent partner
in this retail store, being about to settle in Nashville himself. The
store was not a success, and soon was sold out; and as far as known, Capt.
Driver did not attempt any other business venture. [Cooke pg. 175-176]
On 26 Jan 1838, he married Sarah Jane Parks dau. of Robert and Mary (Maclin)
Parks, of Nashville, Tenn. Sarah, was only 15 years of age when they
married, and was a niece of his brother Henry's wife. They had nine children. Sarah
through her maternal ancestors descended from John Rolfe and Pocahontas, which
Indian descent is quite marked in some of the descendants of the different
generations. Sarah died of Yellow Fever in Nashville, Tenn., Sept 13, 1878.
[source of information from Cooke pg. 175]
1. Mary Jane DRIVER, born Nov. 5, 1838; md. in
Nashville, Tenn., Feb 1, 1865,
Charles Hamilton ROLAND, son of Lucien GRAMMONT and
Irene R. (DAVILLIER)
ROLAND, of New Orleans, La., where Charles was born, May 16, 1832. No
2. George Wills DRIVER, born Oct 5, 1840; died in 1862
at Harodsburg, Ky., from wounds
received at Perryville, Ky., in the War of the Rebellion,
having at the breaking out of the
war enlisted as a private in the Confederate
Army, in the Rock City Guards, of the
Tennessee First Regiment.
3. Delilah Ann DRIVER, born Sept. 2, 1842; died June
4. Henry Lynch DRIVER, born March 23, 1845; md.
in Salt Lake City, June 18, 1878, at
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Margaret ROXBURY, dau. of John
and Jean (STEEL)
ROXBURY, of Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland; born , Aug 16,
1852; living with her parents
at Salt Lake City, Utah, Bingham being only a mining station.
Children of Henry Lynch and Margaret (ROXBURY) DRIVER were:
1. Henry William DRIVER, born in Salt Lake City, Utah, March 12, 1879.
2. Sarah Jane DRIVER, born in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 10, 1882.
5. Robert Parks DRIVER, born June 21, 1847
6. Delilah Ann DRIVER, born Sept., 7, 1849 md. in
Nashville on, Feb 17, 1870,
Edward REECE, b. May 12, 1844, in DeKalb Co., Tenn.
1.William REECE, born in Nashville, Tenn., June 22, 1871.
2. George REECE, born in Nashville, Tenn., Aug 7, 1873.
3. Annie Mason REECE, born in Nashville, Tenn., Aug 23, 1875.
4. Edward REECE, born in Nashville, Tenn., Oct 10, 1877.
7. Elizabeth Ropes DRIVER, born March
21, 1852, md. at Nashville, Tenn., Sept 19, 1872,
MOORE, b.4 April 1848 son of James G.
and Mary (HITER) MOORE, of
Straband, Pa., afterwards at Nashville, Tenn. Thomas
Moore was educated
Notre Dame, Md.
1. Sadie May MOORE, born Nashville, Tenn., June 8, 1878.
2. Van Dyke MOORE, born in Lead City, Dakota, May 25, 1881.
8. Ruth Metcalf DRIVER, born June 16, 1856; md.
in Nashville, Tenn., at Christ Church,
Jan. 5, 1880, Lewis DRAKE, son of Jeremiah and
Henrietta (BROKAW) DRAKE; he born
in Lebanon, Ill., June 9, 1856.
1. Elza Hart DRAKE, born in Nashville, Tenn., Dec 2, 1881.
9. Thomas Pitcairn DRIVER, born Sept. 10, 1858; died
June 13, 1859. (Cooke pg. 184]
Captain Driver was an ardent patriot and flew his flag on all occasions, on
most every holiday, election days, days of political rallies, and on his
birthday. He had a rope strung across the street so that the flag would hang
During the Civil War he was Provost Marshal of Nashville, and did very active
and energetic work in the hospitals there. He was a great friend of the Negroes, among whom he had many warm friends. At any time he would rather
give than receive; and for those afflicted or in distress, he had great
sympathy." [Cooke pg. 182]
In 1860, Tennessee was being taken over by the Confederates. Captain Driver
was well known for his pro-American and anti-secessionist sentiments.
"After the Confederates twice tried to take his flag from him, to keep it
safe Driver had his wife and daughter 'mend' it." [Gauron]. They sewed on
additional stars to bring the total number to 34. They arranged the stars so
that there was a space in the lower right corner of the blue canton. In this
space, Captain Driver appliquéd a small white anchor. Then Captain Driver had
some of his pro-Unionist neighbors quilt the flag inside a bed comforter. There
the flag was safely hid.
In 1862, the Union Army took Nashville. Captain Driver offered his flag to be
flown over the state Capitol building. A military escort accompanied him home
for his protection. When the soldiers arrived, the bed comforter was ripped open
and the flag revealed. The story of Captain Driver's adventure with his flag
captured the publics imagination and the story became famous. From that time
forward Americans adopted the nickname "Old Glory" for the American
Shortly before his death, the old sea captain placed a small bundle into the
arms of his daughter. He said to her, "Mary Jane, this is my ship flag, Old
Glory. It has been my constant companion. I love it as a mother loves her child.
Cherish it as I have cherished it."
Captain William Driver died on 2 Mar 1886 (in Nashville).
The flag remained as a precious heirloom in the Driver family until 1922. Then
it was sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, where it is carefully
preserved under glass today.
The account above is accurate as far as it goes and primarily is the
impression you would get if you read Gauron's account or "So Proudly We
Hail." Gauron does refer to the problem of researching the flag history in
a dispute between Captain Driver's daughter, Mary Jane Driver Roland and Captain
Driver's niece Harriet Ruth Cooke over the history of "Old Glory" and
which one of them was given "Old Glory." Evidently Driver had two
flags and gave each one of them the flag and they both acquired the impression
that it was the "Old Glory." Mary Driver Roland's book is filled with
bitter and very personal attacks on Harriet Cooke about the accuracy of her accounts.
Gauron points out that the various accounts by the relatives have conflicts in
dates and events. This is quite understandable in that Capt. Driver lived in an area
of violence, guerrilla activity, and disorder.
However, the account above which is largely the account you will read in
"So Proudly We Hail" and Mr. Gauron's lecture, is the denatured
account. The accounts by Mary J. D. Roland, John Merrill, and others are
dramatic with daring and are much more interesting. If you read American flag
books, you would soon realize that Captain Driver's adventure easily is more
interesting than most flag stories. However, Gauron gives us drying sea
cucumbers and the dangerous storms that Capt. Driver survived, deleting much of the
flag adventures. The Smithsonian account is very short indeed. Basically it is
as if you took Gauron's account and deleted the non-flag material. The
Smithsonian possesses the flag Old Glory.
The other feature of the history of "Old Glory" is that until the
Smithsonian Institute book in 1981, you will not find the story of "Old
Glory" in American flag books, excepting John Merrill's book, and a very
brief mention in David Eggenberger's, "Flags of the U.S.A." 1959,
Thomas Y. Crowell Co., until you go back to the early part of the 20th century.
Even then I find that if someone authors the book in an official capacity, the
"Old Glory" story is not there. (Interestingly enough Eggenberger is
the only book since Preble's book in the 19th century to mention that the design
of the 2nd National Confederate flag was made to represent the idea of white
In the book, "Star-Spangled Banner" by Margaret Seden, published by
the National Geographic Society, 1993, the story is probably as condensed as
much as humanly possible. I suppose it helped provide enough room for the
endless non-Flag filler, which this book was padded with. Though for National
Geographic this is a step forward, for in their earlier flag issues they omitted
Old Glory entirely. In their famous 1917 flag issue, there are no civil war
stories of the flag.
I personally believe that the story of "Old Glory" became
inconvenient since it is by its very origin a rebuke of the Confederacy,
secession, rebellion, and Confederates. With the fall of reconstruction, and the
rise of white supremacy and the acceptance of the South establishing white
supremacist regimes, the story of "Old Glory" became a sort of faux
pas. Southern senators would be upset with accounts bringing it up. Yet, by then,
(1917), the name
was firmly entrenched in American usage.
The following are accounts about "Old Glory" and Captain Driver
which illustrate the daring and determination and show you what you are missing
from the "official" accounts.
From Old Glory Driver, by John Merrill:
"At the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, Captain
Driver remained true to the Union and Old Glory. His devoted patriotism
subjected him to many annoyances and persecutions, for in Tennessee there was
bitter hatred against the North and the Unionists. The people of Nashville knew
that Captain Driver had Old Glory -- the flag they hated -- somewhere in his
possession. They had been accustomed to see it floating from his window on
Washington's Birthday and on the Fourth of July. The Confederates were avowedly
determined to gain possession of Old Glory and destroy it.
Captain Driver, alive to the danger that threatened his flag, took it and,
with the skill of a sailor, sewed it inside the comforter of his bed. There in
his chamber it remained in its hiding-place during the anxious days and months
of the dreadful insurrection.
No one knew what had become of the flag; it seemed to have been spirited
away. Captain Driver's own family knew nothing of its whereabouts. They were all
in sympathy with the Confederate South so it was not safe to trust them with the
secret of its place of concealment. [In Mary Roland's account and in Gauron's
account, you will note Driver had Unionist neighbors, not his family, hide the
flag in the comforter. Mary Roland after the additional stars are added is sent
to live in Western Tennessee and is not there when the flag is hid. ]
William Driver and Old Glory had grown old together; he had guarded the flag
in early prosperity and he guarded it now in bitter adversity. Yet, while
destructions threatened on every side, he continued to hope and dream that
Old Glory would soon float over the Capitol of Nashville.
The Nashville Confederates knew that the flag must be concealed in Captain
Driver's house, and again and again they searched it thoroughly, but without
finding the flag. The days were anxious ones for Captain Driver. He had many
times told the people that he would hoist Old Glory over the proud, fallen
Capitol. How they hated him! They treated him like one infected with leprosy.
The Confederates became increasingly enraged by their continued failure to
lay hands on the coveted prize. They declared they would burn Captain Driver and
his house if he did not give up his flag. His maddened enemies surrounded his
residence, and when the flag was not handed over to them, proceeded to set the
place on fire. Fortunately a number of Union friends rallied to Captain Driver's
aid, saved him, his home, and Old Glory. Many anxious days and sleepless nights
followed; there was always the fear that another effort would be made to fire
the house, or another attempt be made upon his life. Captain Driver dared not
leave his room lest some one might discover and destroy Old Glory. " [pp. 53- 55]
Merrill continues with his account of what happened after the
Union Army had entered Nashville.
"Had the old patriot attempted to go through the streets of
Nashville along with Old Glory, doubtless he would have been shot -- at the very
least the flag would have been taken from him.
A corporal's guard was sent with the old man to his house, where he speedily
ripped Old Glory from the comforter where it had so long remained hidden.
When the Union soldiers saw the banner they immediately saluted it with a
hearty three-times-three, adding three cheers for the old captain. They marched
again to the Capitol -- Captain Driver bearing the flag lovingly in his arms.
Looks of bitter hatred were directed toward the aged man as he passed through
the streets. Once a window was hastily opened and a woman shouted out, 'Look at
Old Driver, the traitor!' And then there went up hisses and derisive yells from
some of the Confederate bystanders. But Captain Driver no longer cared for their
taunts, their insolence. His country's flag was once more to float over the
proud city of Nashville. This was to him a triumphal march, and nothing could
mar his supreme happiness." [pp. 55-56]
"The Stars and Strips and other American Flags," by Peleg D. Harrison, Little, Brown And Co., 1917,
has a short
chapter titled, "Origin of the Name of 'Old Glory.'" It quotes from a
Philadelphia Press correspondent in an account of the capture of Nashville in
"A Corporal's guard was sent to the old man's house, where
they ripped from the coverlet of his bed an immense flag containing a hundred
and ten yards of bunting, and he brought it himself to the Capitol and unfurled
it from the flag-staff. Then with tears in his eyes, he said: 'There, those
Texas Rangers have been hunting for it for these six months without finding it,
and they knew I had it. I have always said if I could see it float over the that,
(Nashville) Capitol I should have lived long enough; now Old Glory is up there, gentlemen,
and I am ready to die. ... He trembled for his cherished flag, for he had been an
outspoken man, and all the city knew his sentiments. 'Old Glory' had always
floated from his window on days of public rejoicing. Its history was known and
every Confederate felt it to be his mission to get possession of that flag. The
house and grounds were searched in vain. ..." [pp. 306]
Mary Roland's book has a different perspective. She denies that there were repeated searches
of the house, but she was not there at Captain Driver's house and says she was
brought up to date by her sewing circle. Her statement is also contrary to
Captain Driver's own statements and others. It may have something to do with her
bitter hostility towards her cousin who had her own published account. Also,
given that Captain Driver did not trust his family with the flag, it must be
questioned how much Ms. Roland was told. Captain Driver, after all, had to go to
his neighbors to have the flag hidden, because he didn't trust any member of his
family. Even so Mary Roland tells the following two threats.
"Only on one occasion, soon after the State of Tennessee seceded,
Governor Harris sent a committee to our house with instructions to demand the
flag, Old Glory. My father, being apprised of its mission, met the committee at
the front door and said, 'Gentlemen, this is my house, and I am lord of my
castle. If you are looking for stolen property in my house, produce your search
warrant.' They said not a word, and left the premises."
Some time after this incident Dick M'Cann, an old neighbor, but now chief of
a band of guerillas, accompanied by a select squad of guerillas, came to our
house and demanded Old Glory. My father was on the porch in front of the house,
pacing to and fro, suddenly turned and faced the squad and said, 'Dick, I have
known you all your life; if you want my flag you'll have to take it over my dead
body.' The guerilla chief, whirling around shouted: 'Come on, boys Let the old
man alone.' " [pp. 32-33]
1. "The Life and Achievements of Old Glory Driver -- Godfather to
the United States Flag", Paper delivered at the 13th Annual Meeting of the North
American Vexillogical at Salem, Massachusetts, on Oct. 5-8, 1979, by Robert S.
Gauron, Lombard, Illinois.
2. "Old Glory Driver", by John Merrill, Vantage Press, 1956.
Merrill was a descendant of Capt. Driver.
3. "So Proudly We Hail: the History of the United States Flag", by Rear Admiral
William Rea Furlong and Commodore Byron McCandless, with the editorial
assistance of Harold D. Langley, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981. PP.
4. "Old Glory: The True Story", by Mary J. Driver Roland, daughter of Captain
William Driver. Printed for the author, 1918.
5. "The Driver Family Descendants of Robert and Phebe Driver"
(Harriet Ruth (Waters) Cooke, pub. 1889:
6: Various sources on the internet, with information verified against sources
1 - 5.
|This tombstone was designed by William
Driver himself several years before his death, in 1886. It is in
the form of a tree trunk with a ship's anchor carved on one side. The
inscription reads: "A master mariner; sailed twice around the
world; once around Australia; removed the Pitcairn people from sickness
and death in Taheita (sic) to their own home on Septembere 3, 1831. Then
sixty in number, now twelve hundred." Near the preceding
inscriptions are the words: "Trust in the Lord and do good; so
shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily shalt thou be fed."
Toward the bottom is carved: "I never wanted since" and
"His God, his country, his ship and his flag, 'Old Glory.'".
Photos courtesy of