I am trying to determine the authenticity of a small piece of flag I
have.  Below is the handwritten note that came with it:

    "This is a piece of the battle flag of the USS CONSTITUTION when
she fought and captured the British ship Guirriere in 1812.  Inherited
by me from my great Uncle Com. Beverly Rennon, USN who was killed by
with my great uncle secy. of the Navy - Secy. of State, by the
bursting of the peace maker on board the USS PRINCETON in 1844"  
(signed)  George L. Upshur

I think the "L." is for Lyttleton and I also tracked down the
following information:

John Henry UPSHUR- NOTTINGHAM Adm. was born on December 5, 1823. John
Henry Nottingham had his last name changed to UPSHUR by 2 uncles -
Judge UPSHUR and Captain George UPSHUR- neither of whom  had sons.
Admiral John Henry UPSHUR (Nottingham) was "Admiral UPSHUR" of the
Navy. He was Dean at the  Naval Academy at Annapolis for about 50
years and died over the age of 90. He was married to Katherine Alica
WILLIAMS (daughter of William George WILLIAMS and America Pickney
PETER) in 1851 in Northampton Co.,  Virginia,  Katherine Alica
WILLIAMS was born in 1834. She died on August 22, 1864.
John Henry UPSHUR-NOTTINGHAM Adm. and Katherine Alica WILLIAMS had the
following children:
Custis Parke (UPSHUR) NOTTINGHAM b. August 21, 1852. 
George Lyttleton (UPSHUR) NOTTINGHAM b. February 8, 1856 in
Washington, DC.
Kate (UPSHUR) NOTTINGHAM b. March 12, 1861. 
Gertrude (UPSHUR) NOTTINGHAM b. July 23, 1862. 
Harri N. (UPSHUR) NOTTINGHAM. 
Harri P. (UPSHUR) NOTTINGHAM. 
He was married to Agnes MAXWELL in 1868. She died on July 2, 1917.

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 31 Dec 2002 12:09 PST

Dear ltmarks,

What exactly would you consider a valid answer? So far, I have been
able to find out the following:

- The correct spelling of the person mentioned as Com. Beverly Rennon
in the not you own

- That person's identity

- The identity of the mentioned Secretary of State and his
cirumstances of death

- Some genealogical data

What else exactly would you like me to collect?

Best regards,
Scriptor

---

Clarification of Question by ltmarks-ga on 02 Jan 2003 08:06 PST

All,
  the note was written by George L. Upshur.  My goal is to determine
if he would have had this original piece of flag and if it's
authentic.  Was he possibly a famous historian?  Was he actually
related to Com. Beverly Rennon (great uncle?) or the secretary of the
Navy/state?  If the answer is yes, then I would think his statement
was credible and this piece of flag it authentic.
  thank you,
William Marks

---

Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 02 Jan 2003 11:03 PST

Dear ltmarks,

Very well. I will keep on working on this question to find out as much
as only possible. Please be patient.

Regards,
Scriptor

Dear ltmarks,

It took me several hours of careful resaerch in genealogy databases,
but finally I can now tell you that George Littleton Upshur (8
February 1856 - 24 April 1938) was indeed a relative of both Captain
Beverly Kennon (not Rennon, but the capital R and K look sometimes
very similar in handwriting) and Secretary of State Abel Parker
Upshur, who died at he explosion of a heavy gun aboard USS Princeton
on 28 February 1844. Here is the proof in detail:

-- 1: The connection of George L. Upshur to Abel Parker Upshur --

One of George L. Upshur's great-grandfathers was Littleton Upshur of
Accomac County, Virginia (26 April 1758 - August 1811). This Littleton
Upshur married one Ann Parker in about 1781. They had 9 children, two
of which were Abel Parker Upshur (17 June 1790 - 28 February 1844),
who would become Secretary of State, and Elizabeth Parker Upshur (11
March 1801 - 15 September 1879).

Elizabeth Parker Upshur married John E. Nottingham (d. 1841) on 30
December 1820. They had 3 children, among them John Henry Nottingham
(5 December 1823 - 30 May 1917).

John Henry Nottingham, who adopted the surname of his mother's
brother, Upshur, married his first wife Katharine Alicia Williams
(1834 - 22 August 1864) in 1851. They had 6 children, with George
Littleton Upshur-Nottingham being born 8 February 1856 on the
Washington Naval Yard, Washington, D.C.

Since Elizabeth Parker Upshur was George Littleton Upshur's
grandmother, her brother Abel Parker Upshur, Secretary of State, was
indeed his granduncle.


-- 2: The connection of George L. Upshur to Beverly Kennon --

Another of George L. Upshur's great-grandfathers was Thomas Peter of
Georgetown, Virginia (4 January 1769 - 16 April 1834). He married
Martha Parke Custis (31 December 1777 - 13 July 1854) on 6 January
1795. They had 8 children, two of which were their daughters Britannia
Wellington Peter (28 January 1815 - 27 January 1911) and America
Pinckney Peter (12 October 1803 - 25 April 1842) (the middle names do
not represent any descendancy).

Britannia Wellington Peter married the US Navy officer Captain Beverly
Kennon (17 April 1793 - 28 February 1844) on 8 December 1842.

Her sister America Pinckney Peter married William George Williams
(1801 - 1846) in 1826. They had 5 children, of which one was Katharine
Alicia Williams, who would marry John Henry Nottingham-Upshur in 1851.

So Captain Beverly Kennon was the husband of George L. Upshur's
grandmother's sister. Not exactly his granduncle, but one could use
this term. The connection is absolutely clear.


Now there can be no doubt anymore that both the persons mentioned by
George L. Upshur in his note were his relatives. So it is very likely
that his statement as a whole is credible.

Sources:

RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Genealogical Database
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi

Family Search: Genealogical Database
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp

Hope this is what you were looking for!
Best regards,
Scriptor

Wow, that was great.  Thank you very much.