{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_51089/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_51089","id":"gutenberg_51089","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51089","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Flags -- United States","Ross, Betsy, 1752-1836"],"text":"[Transcriber's Note: Bold text is surrounded by =equal signs.=]\n\n\n    PUBLICATIONS\n\n    OF THE\n\n    SCOTTSVILLE LITERARY SOCIETY,\n\n    No. 7.\n\n    DID BETSEY ROSS DESIGN\n\n    THE FLAG OF THE\n\n    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?\n\n    By Franklin Hanford.\n\n    SCOTTSVILLE, N. Y.\n\n    ISAAC VAN HOOSER. PRINTER.\n\n    1917.\n\n\n\n\nDID BETSY ROSS DESIGN THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?\n\nBy Franklin Hanford.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nA paper read before the Scottsville Literary Society, January 22, 1917.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nOn Saturday, the fourteenth of June, 1777, the Continental Congress,\nthen in session in Philadelphia, adopted a resolution which reads as\nfollows: \u201cResolved, that the flag of the thirteen United States be\nthirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen\nstars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Journal of Congress is silent as to the name of the member or\ncommittee that introduced this resolution and neither is there any\nrecord of the discussions that may have preceded the adoption of our\nnational emblem.\u201d \u201cIt is a matter of great regret that no record of\nthe circumstances attending the birth of the Stars and Stripes has\never been found,\u201d for we should like to know who designed our present\nflag, and also, though a matter of less interest, who made, that is\nmanufactured, the first one.\n\nSome years ago I happened to see upon the wall at Mrs. Emma H. Miller\u2019s\nhouse in Scottsville, a very attractive picture in colors. This picture\nrepresented General Washington seated on the left and Robert Morris and\nthe Hon. George Ross standing near him, while, seated on the right, was\nBetsey Ross with a =completed= flag of thirteen stripes, and thirteen\nstars in a blue field, in her lap. \u201cC. H. Weisberger, Copyright 1903,\u201d\nwas inscribed near the bottom of the picture. Underneath it was this\nlegend; \u201cBirth of our nation\u2019s flag. The first American flag accepted\nby Congress and adopted by resolution of Congress June 14, 1777, as the\nnational standard, was made by Betsey Ross, in 1776 at 239 Arch Street,\nPhiladelphia, in the room represented in this picture. The Committee,\nRobert Morris and Hon. George Ross, accompanied by General George\nWashington, called upon this celebrated woman and together with her\nsuggestions, produced our beautiful emblem of liberty.\u201d\n\nThe legend under this picture led me to make some inquiries as to\nBetsey Ross. Who was she? And did she assist in designing and did she\nmake the first flag or ensign of the United States of America? If not\nBetsey Ross, who did design and make it? Endeavoring to answer these\nquestions, I have consulted some thirteen works relating wholly or in\npart to the flag of the United States. A list of them is appended to\nthis paper.\n\nBetsey or Elizabeth Griscom was the fifth daughter of Samuel and\nRebecca (James) Griscom and was born January 1, 1752. She was\nmarried when quite young to John Ross, son of the Reverend Aeneas\nRoss, an Episcopal clergyman of Newcastle, Delaware, whose brother,\nthe Hon. George Ross, became one of the signers of the Declaration\nof Independence. George Ross was interested in the furnishing of\ncannon-balls, with perhaps other military stores for the Colonial\ndefence, and it was while on guard at night over these, with other\nyoung men, that the nephew, John Ross, Betsey\u2019s first husband, received\nan injury from the effects of which he died in January, 1776.\n\nIt was during her widowhood that Betsey Ross is said to have made\nthe first Stars and Stripes. For a second husband she married a\nsea-captain, John or Joseph Ashburne, who died in Mill Prison, England,\nin 1782. The following year, she married Ashburne\u2019s prison-mate, John\nClaypoole, who died in 1817.\n\nBetsey Ross died in her daughter\u2019s home in Philadelphia January\n30, 1836, aged eighty-four. She was buried in the Cemetery of the\nSociety of Free Quakers on South Fifth Street, from which place her\nremains were transferred in 1857 to Mount Moriah Cemetery. Four of\nher daughters grew up and married. Betsey Ross\u2019 first husband was\nan upholsterer. She continued his business and for fifty years was\nan expert needlewoman, lace-maker and flag-maker. After her death,\nMrs. Clarissa Wilson, one of her daughters, succeeded to the business\nand continued to make flags for the arsenals and navy-yards and for\nthe mercantile marine for many years. But being conscientious on\nthe subject of war, Mrs. Wilson gave up the Government business but\ncontinued to make flags for the merchant marine until 1857.\n\nThe earliest \u201cHistory of the National Flag,\u201d of which I have knowledge,\nwas written by Captain Schuyler Hamilton, U. S. Army, and published at\nPhiladelphia in 1853, sixty-four years ago. Captain Hamilton makes no\nmention of Betsey Ross, and does not give to any one person or group of\npersons the honor of designing our flag.\n\nThe next \u201cHistory of Our Flag\u201d was written by Ferdinand L. Sarmiento\nand published in 1864, during the Civil War, at Philadelphia.\nSarmiento, like Captain Hamilton, does not mention Betsey Ross and\ndoes not credit the origin of our flag to any one person or to any\ncommittee, or group of persons, but considers honor due to many\nindividuals who assisted, more or less, in the =development= of our\nflag.\n\nSo far as I can learn, no mention of Mrs. Ross occurs in any history\nof our country or in any of the many biographies of Washington, prior\nto 1870, ninety-three years after the flag was adopted. In that year,\nhowever, \u201cMr. Wm. J. Canby of Philadelphia, read before the Historical\nSociety of Pennsylvania, a paper on the history of the American flag,\nin which he stated that his maternal grandmother, Mrs. John Ross,\nwas the first maker and partial designer of the Stars and Stripes.\u201d\nMr. Canby said that Mrs. Ross received a call in June, 1776, from\nGeneral Washington, Col. George Ross, and Robert Morris, who told her\nthey were a Committee of Congress and wanted her to make a flag from\na rough drawing they had, which drawing, upon her suggestion, was\nredrawn by Washington in pencil. This was prior to the Declaration of\nIndependence. Mr. Canby claimed that he had heard his grandmother tell\nthe story when he was a boy eleven years old, and that three of Mrs.\nRoss\u2019 daughters then living in 1870 and a niece, aged ninety-five,\nconfirmed his statements.\n\nIn the picture I have referred to, Mrs. Ross is represented as having a\n=completed= Stars and Stripes in her lap, although, at the time of the\nvisit of the Committee to her, according to Mr. Canby\u2019s statement, the\nflag had not even been designed or manufactured.\n\nThe best and most complete \u201cHistory of the Flag of the U. S. of\nAmerica\u201d was written by Rear Admiral George H. Preble, U. S. Navy. The\nfirst edition was published in 1872 and the second, revised, edition,\nin 1880. Rear-Admiral Preble gives Mr. Canby\u2019s story about Mrs. Ross\nin full, and he considers it probable that Mrs. Ross did manufacture\nor have manufactured at different times flags of the United States of\nvarious designs. His conclusion, however, is that \u201cit will probably\nnever be known who designed our union of stars, the records of Congress\nbeing silent on the subject and there being no mention or suggestion\nof it in any of the voluminous correspondence or diaries of the time,\npublic or private, which have ever been published.\u201d\n\nIn 1878, a ridiculous pamphlet was published, entitled \u201cThe History of\nthe First United States Flag and the Patriotism of Betsey Ross, the\nImmortal Heroine that Originated the First Flag of the Union. Dedicated\nto the Ladies of the United States by Col. J. Franklin Reigart.\u201d This\nwas published at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.\n\nIn Reigart\u2019s book, the claim is made that Mrs. Ross \u201c=originated=\u201d\nour flag. Mr. Canby, Mrs. Ross\u2019 grandson, had claimed only that she\n=manufactured= it and that she suggested some changes in the sketch\nshown her by the committee. In Reigart\u2019s book there is a pretended\nportrait of Betsey Ross making the first flag. This was really the\nportrait of a Quaker lady of Lancaster and was taken from a photograph.\nMr. Canby repudiated Reigart\u2019s book and said he did not correctly\npresent his grandmother or her claim.\n\nIn 1876 Mr. J. C. Julius Langbein wrote a small history of our flag and\nhe accepts Mr. Canby\u2019s account of Mrs. Ross making the first flag and\nsuggesting some change in the original design.\n\nLearning that a book entitled \u201cBetsey Ross\u201d had been published in\n1901, I procured a copy thinking it biographical or historical but it\nproved to be a romance, pure and simple, woven about Mrs. Ross who is\nrepresented as the heroine of her day and the principal designer of the\nflag.\n\nSince 1891, several small works on the flag have been published,\nwritten by members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and\ndedicated to that organization. In those works great honor is given\nMrs. Ross, indeed, the members of the D. A. R. as a whole, seem to\nhave accepted Mr. Canby\u2019s story as beyond dispute.\n\nIn 1908, Mr. John H. Fow published at Philadelphia a book of fifty-four\npages entitled \u201cThe True Story of the American Flag.\u201d Mr. Fow devotes\nconsiderable space to the claims made for Mrs. Ross and considers them\nwithout any documentary or record proof. He says, \u201cIf Mrs. Ross made\na flag in an Arch Street house as claimed, it was made after a design\nthat had been conceived and born somewhere else, and her contribution\nwas no more than the labor that is given by any girl or woman in a\nflag manufactory. Even according to the paper which was read (by Mr.\nCanby) before the (Historical) Society in 1870, it is admitted that a\ndesign made by someone else was taken to her but that she made some\nchanges in it. Now,\u201d says Mr. Fow, \u201cthat is all there is in the Betsey\nRoss claim. Yet the growing youths of the nation are being misled and\ntaught an historical untruth.\u201d Mr. Fow also says that the Canby claim\n\u201cis practically charging Washington and the rest of the Committee with\nseeking to establish and set up in June, 1776, a national ensign\nbefore we had declared ourselves a free people on July 4, of the same\nyear, and without any delegated authority to do so, the record of\nCongress being silent on the subject.\u201d\n\nI will not quote further from Mr. Fow\u2019s book, as to do so would\nunduly lengthen this paper, but the book itself can be found in the\nScottsville Free Library.\n\nI have lately found in the \u201cManual of Patriotism for Use in the Public\nSchools of the State of New York, Edition of 1904, Compiled, Arranged\nand Edited under direction of Charles R. Skinner, State Superintendent\nof Public Instruction\u201d the following in relation to the origin of our\nflag, \u201cA Committee of Congress accompanied by Washington sought out the\nhome and services of Mrs. Elizabeth Ross of Philadelphia\u2014better known\nas Betsey Ross\u2014to aid them in the flag-making. Her skillful hands and\nwilling heart soon worked out a plan and gave to this country that\nred, white and blue banner which is the admiration of all nations and\nthe unfailing joy of every true American.\u201d All of which is a very fine\nexample of what may be called \u201cpatriotic gush.\u201d\n\nHere you observe that Mr. Skinner gives Mrs. Ross =all= the credit for\nworking out and giving us the flag. As it seemed to me that that sort\nof history and patriotism is all wrong and as there is, I believe,\nno warrant for that statement, I wrote on September 16, 1916, to the\nState Superintendent of Public Instruction at Albany, and asked to\nbe furnished with the authority upon which that statement was based.\nA reply came very promptly signed \u201cWilmer L. Hall, Sub-librarian in\nhistory,\u201d to whom my letter had been referred for reply. Mr. Hall says,\n\u201cThe statement you quote =may= be based upon one or more of the several\nhistories of the American Flag. See for example; Peleg D. Harrison, The\nStars and Stripes, 5th edition, 1914., and C. W. Stewart, The Stars and\nStripes, 1915. These accounts do not assert that Betsey Ross originated\nthe American flag but allow her the credit of making the first one.\n=It is said= that Congress appointed a Committee consisting of General\nWashington, Col. George Ross and Robert Morris, who called upon Mrs.\nRoss and submitted to her a rough drawing of the flag. As the American\nflag is a growth rather than a creation, its exact origin is not\ndetermined; =nor is the date of the manufacture= of the first one by\nMrs. Ross and the date of its first use matters of exact knowledge.\u201d\n\nUpon examining the two works referred to by Mr. Hall, I find that Mr.\nHarrison says that \u201cthe credit of making the first flag combining the\nStars and Stripes is =generally given= to Mrs. Betsey Ross, and the\nstory of its making is somewhat familiar to all.\u201d Then Mr. Harrison\ngoes on to give Mr. Canby\u2019s account of what his grandmother told him.\n\nMr. Stewart in his book says, \u201c=Tradition tells us= that Mrs. Elizabeth\nRoss, known as Betsey Ross, of Philadelphia, constructed the first\nStars and Stripes flag. Though we have no official record of the making\nof this first United States flag, the accounts given by Betsey Ross\u2019\nrelatives are =generally= accepted.\u201d\n\nI will here call attention to the use by Mr. Hall, Mr. Harrison,\nMr. Stewart, and other writers of such expressions as \u201cIt is said,\u201d\n\u201cTradition tells us,\u201d \u201cIt is believed,\u201d \u201cCredit is generally given,\u201d\nand so forth and so forth. These expressions are to history what the\nexpression \u201cthey say\u201d in common gossip or talk is to the truth, and are\nworth just as much. The fact that a thing is =generally believed= does\nnot make it true.\n\nSometime after the receipt of the foregoing letter from Mr. Hall, I\nwrote him suggesting that the account given on page 5 of the \u201cManual of\nPatriotism\u201d previously quoted, be corrected to agree with the facts.\n\nIt will be noted from the above correspondence that the State\nDepartment of Public Instruction does not now assert, as it did in\n1904, that Betsey Ross =originated= the design of the flag for the\nUnited States.\n\nWhat became of the flag that Betsey Ross is said to have made in June,\n1776? In all the engagements that took place between the American and\nBritish troops from June, 1776, to August, 1777, there is no record\nin existence, public or private, that the flag claimed to have been\ndesigned by Mrs. Ross in June, 1776, was carried.\n\nThe first time that the Stars and Stripes was carried by American\ntroops was at the battle of the Brandywine, September, 1777.\n\nThe Annals of the American Congress do not say that any Committee\nwas appointed to design the flag. Washington made no note of a visit\nto Mrs. Ross\u2019 house, although he was a voluminous letter-writer and\nkept most detailed diaries, and his writings do not contain a word\nthat suggests when the first United States flag was made or designed.\nNeither do any of the distinguished historians of the Revolutionary\nperiod give us light on this question. Newspapers of Philadelphia,\nissued at that time, did not chronicle any portion of the story as told\nby Mr. Canby ninety-three years after the flag was adopted by Congress.\nMrs. Ross did make =State= colors for vessels and batteries prior to\nJune 14, 1777, but it was not until after the Stars and Stripes were\nordained that she became a Government flag-maker.\n\nThe Betsey Ross legend has grown up since 1870 entirely from her\ngrandson\u2019s statement as to what he and other descendants had heard her\nsay. This legend is now generally believed and taught in our schools as\nhistory.\n\nThe people of our country are very apt at setting up idols of one\nkind or another and at manufacturing heros and heroines. That Betsey\nRoss was a good woman, and an industrious and competent seamstress is\nentirely probable. That she was brave, we may believe,\u2014she married\nthree husbands!! At all events, we have now Betsey Ross Chapters,\nBetsey Ross Auxiliaries, and Betsey Ross this, that, and the other.\nAnd her former home at 239 Arch Street in Philadelphia has been bought\nand is preserved by the \u201cAmerican Flag House and Betsey Ross Memorial\nAssociation.\u201d And a large sign across the front reads, \u201cBirthplace of\nOld Glory.\u201d\n\nNow with your permission, I will give my own conclusions on the\nsubject. The evidence that General Washington, Robert Morris and\nColonel George Ross called upon Mrs. Ross in June, 1776, and asked her\nto make a flag from a sketch which they showed her, that Mrs. Ross\nsuggested alterations in the design, which the Committee accepted, and\nthat she made a flag from the modified design which flag was a year\nlater adopted by Congress as our national ensign, is entirely =heresay=\nevidence. It is based solely on statements by Betsey Ross\u2019 descendants\nas to what they =heard= her say. This evidence, I think, would not be\naccepted in a court of law, and therefore it is not proved that Mrs.\nRoss either designed or manufactured our first flag.\n\nI read a portion of this paper on June 14, 1912, before the Caledonia\nchapter of the D. A. R. and asked them this question, Would you admit\nto membership in your society a person whose sole claim to membership\nwas based on what she had heard her grandmother say? The unanimous\nreply was that they could not admit such a claimant.\n\nPossibly there may be some better evidence than I have been able to\nfind to substantiate the claims made for Betsey Ross; but until such\nevidence is produced, then the people of our country should be taught\nthe facts of the case and not a legend as a fact.\n\nThe answer, then, to the question propounded at the beginning of this\npaper is, that Betsey Ross did not design the flag of the United States\nof America.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY.\n\nDid Betsey Ross Design the Flag of the United States of America?\n\n\n  =Bowson, Elizabeth M. (Mrs. Henry S.)=\n    Our Flag, Its History and What It Stands For                     1908\n\n  =Champion, Sarah E.=\n    Our Flag, Its History and Changes from 1607 to 1910              1910\n\n  =Fow, John H.=\n    The True Story of the American Flag                              1908\n\n  =Hamilton, Schuyler=\n    History of the National Flag of the United States of America     1852\n\n  =Hamilton, Schuyler=\n    Our National Flag: The Stars and Stripes                         1877\n\n  =Harrison, Peleg D.=\n    The Stars and Stripes                                            1914\n\n  =Hotchkiss, Chauncey C.=\n    Betsey Ross A Romance of the Flag                                1901\n\n  =Langbein, J. C. Julius=\n    The American Flag Its Origin and History                         1876\n\n  =Preble, George Henry Rear-Admiral, U. S. Navy=\n    History of the Flag of the United States of America  1st edition 1872\n                                                         2nd edition 1880\n\n  =Prescott, B. F.=\n    The Stars and Stripes                                            1876\n\n  =Sarmiento, Ferdinand L.=\n    The History of Our Flag                                          1864\n\n  =Smith, Col. Nicholas=\n    Our Nation\u2019s Flag                                    2nd edition 1908\n\n  =Stewart, Charles W.=\n    The Stars and Stripes                                            1915\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Note: Obvious punctuation errors repaired.","title":"Did Betsey Ross Design the Flag of the United States of America?: Publication of the Scottsville Literary Society","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":3214}