Answers to Go with Susan Smith

Q I read your column on Flag Day and Betsy Ross came to mind. I think I remember hearing that there was some question about whether she was really involved in sewing the first U.S. flag. Did your source mention Ross?

A. Yes. “The American Book of Days” does talk about the maker of the first flag: “The 1777 legislation provided only the barest specifications for the new flag. It did not limit the number of points in the design of the stars, it did not set forth a particular arrangement for the stars and stripes, nor did it designate a designer for the national banner.

“Numerous contradictory and unsubstantiated legends attribute the creation of the first Stars and Stripes flag to such various personages as John Hulbert of Long Island, New York; John Paul Jones, the American naval hero; and Frances Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

“However, tradition generally credits Betsy Ross with making the original Stars and Stripes banner. The story of the Philadelphia upholsterer dates from 1870, when her grandson, William J. Canby, read a paper before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

“Canby based his report on conversations with Ross that had taken place shortly before her death in 1836. At the time of these talks, she was 84 and Canby was 11. In 1857, he wrote down his grandmother’s recollections, and in 1870 he published her story, 94 years after the fact.

“The appealing vignette of General Washington visiting the needlewoman quickly caught the popular imagination, and Ross’s name became linked with the banner of 13 alternate red and white stripes and a blue field bearing a circle of 13 five-pointed stars. Historians, however, have not been able to corroborate Canby’s report.

“The only provable facts known about Ross are that she was a patriot upholsterer living in Philadelphia during the American Revolution, and that some time before May 1777 she made several Pennsylvania naval flags of unknown design.

“Just as the identity of the designer and maker of the original Stars and Stripes flag is shrouded in mystery, the exact date of its first raising is also unknown. Authorities do agree that the flag gained increasing acceptance during the summer of 1777, and most believe that rebel forces first fought under the flag at the battle of Bennington, Vermont, in August 1777.

“The Bennington flag is recognized as the oldest Stars and Stripes banner. Its design reflects the latitude the Continental Congress allowed flagmakers in its specifications. The blue field is nine stripes in width, 11 of its 13 seven pointed stars are arranged in an arch over the numerals ‘76’ on the field, while the remaining two occupy the upper corners. Interesting as well is the fact that the highest and lowest of the flag’s 13 stripes are white rather than red.”

I thought I’d look up Betsy Ross in the 17-volume “Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia.” Betsy Ross was born in 1752. In 1773, she married John Ross, an upholsterer. In January 1776, John died in an accidental gunpowder explosion while on militia duty.

Here is an excerpt: “Betsy Ross was an active, accomplished woman, the mother of seven children, and a successful businesswoman and real estate investor. She became legendary, however, for her disputable involvement in the creation of the nation’s first flag.

“George Ross, an uncle of Ross’ first husband, was a well-known patriot, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a friend of George Washington.

“According to legend, George Ross, George Washington, and Robert Morris visited Betsy Ross in June 1776—or by some accounts as late as 1777—as members of a secret committee of the Continental Congress seeking a flag for the nascent nation.

“Betsy suggested a design to Washington, who then made a pencil sketch of it. Washington originally wanted six-pointed stars, but Ross preferred them five-pointed because they were easier to cut.”

In 1777, Betsy married Joseph Ashburn. Shortly after their marriage, Betsy provided flags for the Pennsylvania navy. Ashburn was an American sailor who was captured in 1781 and sent to a British prison, where he died in 1782.

In 1783, she married John Claypoole. The mother of seven continued to run her upholstery business until 1827 when her daughter took over. She died in 1836.