![Picture](/uploads/2/3/9/3/23932527/1648102.jpg)
Betsy Ross was a patriotic icon during the late 19th century. She had sewn the first "stars & stripes", U.S. flag in 1776. Although that story is made up, she is really known for making flags during the Revolutionary War.
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/9/3/23932527/4869004.jpg)
BETSY ROSS: AN EARLY AMERICAN LIFE
Elizabeth Griscom was born on January 1, 1752, in Philadelphia. She was the 18 of 17 children.
Her parents were both Quakers.
The daughter of generations of craftsman (her father was a house carpenter), young Betsy attended a Quaker school and was then apprenticed to William Webster, an upholsterer.
In Webster’s workshop she learned to sew mattresses, chair covers and window blinds.
In 1773, at age 21, Betsy crossed the river to New Jersey to elope with John Ross, a fellow apprentice of Webster’s and the son of an Episcopal rector—a double act of defiance that got her expelled from the Quaker church. The Rosses started their own upholstery shop, and John joined the militia. He died after barely two years of marriage. Though family legend would attribute John’s death to a gunpowder explosion, illness is a more likely culprit.
Elizabeth Griscom was born on January 1, 1752, in Philadelphia. She was the 18 of 17 children.
Her parents were both Quakers.
The daughter of generations of craftsman (her father was a house carpenter), young Betsy attended a Quaker school and was then apprenticed to William Webster, an upholsterer.
In Webster’s workshop she learned to sew mattresses, chair covers and window blinds.
In 1773, at age 21, Betsy crossed the river to New Jersey to elope with John Ross, a fellow apprentice of Webster’s and the son of an Episcopal rector—a double act of defiance that got her expelled from the Quaker church. The Rosses started their own upholstery shop, and John joined the militia. He died after barely two years of marriage. Though family legend would attribute John’s death to a gunpowder explosion, illness is a more likely culprit.
original version had 13 stars to represent the 13 colonies
it was 30 x 42 on display in washington dc at smithsonian
it was 30 x 42 on display in washington dc at smithsonian