Signal's Lily Flagg 31035, also spelled Flag, was a Jersey cow, the top butter producer in the world in 1892, owned by W. E. Matthews and General Samuel H. Moore of Huntsville, Alabama. During her record-breaking year, she weighed and produced of butter. Her parents were sire Georgian 6073 and dam Little Nan 15895. The Sydney Mail reported extensively on Lily Flagg:
To celebrate the record year of butter and present the Jersey champion cup, owners and testers were honored at a party for which the invitation read, This reception was a splendid affair, to be sure. The Monte Sano Hotel was a fine modern establishment—having just been built in 1887—which hosted in its day such famous people as Helen Keller, the Vanderbilt family, and the Astor family. The splendor was not contained on the mountain, but continued downtown three weeks later. Owner Samuel Moore was so taken by the world record that he threw an additional elaborate party on July 21, 1892. In preparation, he painted his home a butter yellow and erected a 50-foot dancing platform at his house, but even that was not enough. He arranged for some of the first electric lights in the Southeast to be installed to illuminate the party through the night. This party was a renowned affair inviting people from as far away as Baltimore and drawing recognition there.
Being an especially famous bovine on account of having won the Jersey champion cup, Lily Flagg was highly sought after for her calves, and for public appearances at top-notch events such as the World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair. Her trip was delayed due to an injury until sometime after mid-June 1893, but she made her appearance to the delight of many a dairy man by October. The Chicago Times reports: The dairy cows at the fair were the most elite of the world. Says the History of the World's Fair: Indeed, every accommodation was made for Lily Flagg and other cows that they may not be disturbed during their milking or the time while they are producing milk, writes the Chicago Times: While at the fair in Jackson Park, Lily Flagg produced of butter in a seven-day test. In this effort she was bested only by Little Goldie's of butter, even among a field of top producers. For comparison, Lily Flagg's yearlong butter test averaged to per week. Her competition record at the fair was deliberately brief. Because she was recognized as one of four "queens in Jersey history,... Signal's Lily Flagg was barred from competition there as she was acknowledged to be unapproachable." At the fair, Lily Flagg was sold to C. I. Hood of Lowell, Massachusetts for $1250 just before September 23, 1893. She joined his herd of prize-winning Jerseys on. For price comparison, thirteen years later, Hood auctioned 59 dairy cows, many with calf, at prices ranging $40 to $525, averaging $186. These prices were probably still significantly higher than the average cow considering the fine stock at Hood Farm. Lily Flagg did not play a significant role in Hood's breeding program after 1898. A 1906 auction catalog listed 59 cows, none of which included Lily in the pedigree.
Legacy
Lily Flagg was raised on Monte Sano Dairy in Northeast Huntsville, AL by descendants of the Chapman family. Her barn was on Dairy Lane in the northeast quadrant of the city but she has long been remembered with Lily Flagg Village, south of Huntsville. The area was known for its cotton production and featured the Lily Flagg Gin. The community won a state prize of $2000 for its one-variety cotton program in 1948. With the Space Race-fueled local population boom in the 1950s and 1960s, the village was annexed into Huntsville. Many establishments, a collector road, neighborhood, and apartment complex in the area are named for the cow. The area swim team is the Lily Flagg Cows. Lily Flagg Milk Stout is brewed in Huntsville. An eponymous book fictionalizes the account of the cow and the surrounding hoopla.
