Betsy Ross
Betsy Ross was born Elizabeth Griscom in 1752 in Philadelphia to Quaker parents. While working as an upholsterer's apprentice at age 21 Betsy eloped with fellow apprentice John Ross, who was not a Quaker, resulting in her expulsion from the Quaker church.
Betsy and her husband soon started their own upholstery shop and joined Christ Church where they sat next to George Washington. Two years later the Revolutionary War broke out and while John Ross was guarding munitions he was killed by an explosion. In 1777, Betsy married her second husband, a seaman, who was captured by the British and died in a British prison. Betsy had two daughters with her second husband, one of which died in infancy.
In 1783 Betsy married John Claypoole and had five daughters with him. Betsy continued to run their upholstery business for ten years after Claypoole's death. She retired three years before her death, completely blind. That must have been horrible for a woman who earned her living working with her hands her entire life.
When I came across this image I immediately thought of a young Betsy Ross
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I was taught in elementary school that Betsy Ross had been commissioned by George Washington to make our country's first flag but while doing my research for this post I discovered that historians now dispute that story. Historians agree that at most Betsy Ross was one of many women who worked on our first flag and that her only contribution to the flag's actual design was when she changed the six pointed stars to five pointed stars.
On January 1, 1952, the US Post Office issued a Betsy Ross stamp to commemorate her 200th birthday.
Happy Birthday America!
Enjoy!
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