Franklin Hanford

“ The people of our country are very apt at setting up idols of one kind or another and at manufacturing heros and heroines. That Betsey Ross was a good woman, and an industrious and competent seamstress is entirely probable. That she was brave, we may believe,—she married three husbands!! At all events, we have now Betsey Ross Chapters, Betsey Ross Auxiliaries, and Betsey Ross this, that, and the other. And her former home at 239 Arch Street in Philadelphia has been bought and is preserved by the “American Flag House and Betsey Ross Memorial Association.” ”

“ Underneath it was this legend; “Birth of our nation’s flag. The first American flag accepted by Congress and adopted by resolution of Congress June 14, 1777, as the national standard, was made by Betsey Ross, in 1776 at 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, in the room represented in this picture. The Committee, Robert Morris and Hon. George Ross, accompanied by General George Washington, called upon this celebrated woman and together with [5] her suggestions, produced our beautiful emblem of liberty.” ”

“ See for example; Peleg D. Harrison, The Stars and Stripes, 5th edition, 1914., and C. W. Stewart, The Stars and Stripes, 1915. These accounts do not assert that Betsey Ross originated the American flag but allow her the credit of making the first one. It is said that Congress appointed a Committee consisting of General Washington, Col. George Ross and Robert Morris, who called upon Mrs. Ross and submitted to her a rough drawing of the flag. As the American flag is a growth rather than a creation, its exact origin is [14] not determined ”

“ Clarissa Wilson, one of her daughters, succeeded to the business and continued to make flags for the arsenals and navy-yards and for the mercantile marine for many years. But being conscientious on the subject of war, Mrs. ”