General George Armstrong Custer

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The August 2012 Collector’s Series Sale

A Treasure Trove of Items Relating to General George Armstrong Custer A young lady walked into our offices on West 57th Street in New York. She placed a shoe box on the table and she said that the contents of the box all related to George Armstrong Custer, the Civil War hero and legendary Indian fighter who died in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

She opened the box and began showing me the contents.

Two things became crystal clear - she understood the significance of each item, and she was knowledgeable and passionate about the life and times of General Custer and his wife, “Libbie.”

The box contained checks, drafts, military orders, and the Custer’s personal account book. There were several stamped envelopes that had previously contained personal correspondence sent from the General to his wife and from her to him.

She showed me a letter written entirely in the General’s hand.

The last items to come out of the box were some medals and badges. She picked up the final object, placed it in my hand, and said “This just may be Libbie Custer’s own Michigan 7th Cavalry Regimental badge, given to her by the General himself.

Libbie Custer describes it in her book, Tenting on the Plains, and she is seen wearing it in several photographs.”

My instincts told me that this could well be a very significant item, but was it really what she thought it might be?

I had to ask the question that was on my mind from the moment the box was opened –“How did you come into possession of these items?”

What follows is a condensed version of what she told me: “Elizabeth Bacon Custer long outlived her husband, General George Armstrong Custer. She made her primary residence at 71 Park Avenue in New York City. Elizabeth and the General had no children, and the majority of her family resided in or around Monroe, Michigan, save for a niece in Brooklyn.

As was customary back in that time, Ms. Custer had a personal assistant (referred to frequently in news articles and other writings as a “companion” or a maid) named Margaret Flood. Margaret lived with Elizabeth until Elizabeth’s death at age 91 in 1933. When she originally began working for Elizabeth, Margaret was single and I'm sure her maiden name is somewhere in all of the notes and letters I have. However, she later married and her husband, Patrick Flood, moved in with them. I have a letter from Mrs. Custer to Patrick, asking what his intentions are for Margaret.

Margaret and Elizabeth were extremely close, as evidenced by the many pieces of personal correspondence I have. Most helpful are the letters Elizabeth wrote to Margaret while she was down in Daytona, Florida for a short period, recuperating from an illness.

www.Spink.com

Margaret was left a number of things upon Elizabeth's death, though I would assume they were nothing thought to be of particular value, at least at the time. I have a letter from an attorney to Margaret which does identify that this occurred. I do know Elizabeth donated General Custer’s items of significance to West Point, such as his medal of honor, his sword, etc. She also donated other items, such as a desk, to the Custer Museum.

Elizabeth published the many letters she received from General Custer during wartime. The book, “The Custer Story: The Life and Intimate Letters of General George A. Custer and His Wife Elizabeth,” was written by Margeurite Merington at Elizabeth’s urging. It took many years and was finally completed in 1950. The whereabouts of the original letters are unknown. However, the envelopes, along with notebooks, stamps, and photos, were stored in a large cardboard box that ended up in the house in Brooklyn with Margaret and Patrick.

Many of the envelopes have Margaret Flood’s handwriting on them; I would assume she helped Merington over the years in sorting through the letters. Likewise, as Merington completed the book in 1950, many years after Elizabeth's passing, it seems likely that she would have returned them to Margaret and Patrick. Elizabeth had no heirs, Margaret was still alive, and she was like family to Elizabeth.

Similar to the Custers, Margaret and Patrick Flood also had no children. However, Margaret did have a niece - her sister’s daughter, Mary - who moved into the Brooklyn house to care

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August 22-23, 2012 - New York, NY

for them as they grew old. When the Floods died, they left their house and its contents to Mary, who lived there for the rest of her life. She also had no children.

My family came to know Mary many years ago when I was a young child. She was the aunt by marriage of a family friend. I came to know her as “Aunt Mary” while I was growing up, though she was of no blood relation to me. My parents remained close to Aunt Mary and saw her as regularly as if she were related to us.

As Aunt Mary advanced in age, my mother visited her more frequently. On one of many visits in the mid 2000s, Aunt Mary gave my mother the box containing the envelopes and a box of Elizabeth Custer's personal effects. (She thought I would be interested in the envelopes and stamps because I liked "old things"). In a smaller box were some old war medals. Nothing terribly exciting, at least to any of us. These boxes had sat in her hall closet for many years and I guess Aunt Mary no longer wanted them. In fact, the box containing the envelopes had long ago suffered water damage; I still have it in all its glory, as I stored its contents in it for the many years since.

Mary gave us the boxes before she passed away in 2007. My mother was appointed by Aunt Mary's will as her executor, and she settled Mary's affairs as Aunt Mary had directed her to, including the sale of the house. I was given a box of “old things” and my mother was given a box of personal effects by my “Aunt” who was of no relation to me by blood but was as close as family. My parents cared for her in her elder years, just as she had cared for her elderly aunt and uncle - who just happened to be the caretakers of Elizabeth Custer in her elder years. In a way, the envelopes are of most interest to me, as the letters they once contained showed the devotion of a man to his wife, and they were passed along in a chain of caring over the years.”

As you will see, further investigation by noted Custer Badge authority John Beckendorf confirmed that the gold and pearl badge from the box was Libbie Custer’s personal Michigan 7th Cavalry Regimental badge, and that the MOLLUS Medal was General Custer’s.

Don’t miss this very important opportunity to obtain some of the most important Custer items to ever be publicly offered.

picture of Custer in military uniform, seen wearing badge in lot 1073

Special thanks to John Beckendorf for his invaluable help on the Custer badges and medals.

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