Rebecca,
Better late than never!!
Just found in the Richmond Dispatch of Dec. 15, 1886 (p3, c5)
The flag of the Blackland Gideonites was property of a theatrical
playing in Richmond. It was placed in a store-front window on Main St.
in the hopes that someone could identify it.
The flag was described as "about 12 X 6 feet" with "eleven stars" encircling
the inscription.
The theatrical group claimed to have possessed the flag since the end of the
war.

Ken