July 2, 2005
Call it a fable if you will, but I still believe Betsy Ross sewed the first flag for this great country!
My belief doesn’t waver despite the fact that vexillologists (flag experts) have disagreed for decades on whether or not this widowed upholsterer from Philadelphia sewed and embroidered such a masterful creation as our American Flag.
Surely she did.
I also believe Paul Revere rode into the night warning his fellow colonists about the emanate invasion of the British.
I will draw the line, however, at the notion that Washington threw a silver dollar across the Delaware River.
Come on. That river is just too wide.
But, when it comes to Betsy Ross, I won’t budge!
Her grandson, William Canby, by most historical accounts, addressed the Pennsylvania Historical Society in 1870 to honor his grandmother, Elizabeth (Betsy) Griscom Ross, for her service to the country.
Lots of folks knew about Betsy sewing the flag back then.
At the time, however, newspapers did not write this story or much else for that matter. There were few newspapers anyway, and journalism was a far cry from what it has become today.
CNN and FOX trucks were not hovering outside her house as she sewed.
There was no Associated Press, no Reuters, no radio, no internet, no bloggers, no text messaging, no cell phones, and no wire service.
Good grief. They didn’t even have wires.
People had to rely on word of mouth—long known to be the best advertising in the world.
That’s why I believe this story.
Betsy’s children and their children learned their Grandmother’s flag story by heart. It was passed down from generation to generation until it became our story, too.
Eventually, critics began to cry that the tale is a fabrication because, get this argument they offer, there are no newspaper accounts of the story.
I just answered that.
Young William Canby was only 11 when his grandmother died. Thus, some historians and journalists have concluded that he couldn’t possibly remember this correctly.
Well, I beg to differ.
I can remember plenty of stories from my grandmother at about that age, and my mother and aunt continued to remind me of those over the years. Of course, William got the story right. Don’t you know his mother did not let him forget his grandmother’s account of how she made the first flag for the brand new nation.
Critics also say there is no documented proof that Washington was even in Philadelphia when Betsy supposedly met with him. However, if you “Google search” Betsy Ross long enough, you will find that Washington’s own records put him there at that time.
Betsy’s family remembers, according to grandson William, that sometime during late spring and early summer of 1776, a Congressional Committee came to call at Betsy’s upholstery business. They included George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross.
Here, the plot thickens.
George Washington (we all know who he was) attended the same church as Betsy Ross, Christ Church Episcopal, in Philadelphia. Accounts of Betsy’s life on her internet Betsy Ross Home Page mention that she often sat in the same pew as Washington.
Pew 12 to be exact.
Since she was an upholsterer and Washington knew her well and needed an upholsterer…draw your own conclusions.
Committee member #2, Robert Morris, was considered by many to be quite wealthy and owned large parcels of land—no doubt, the money guy in this project.
The third man on the flag committee was George Ross. John Ross, Betsy’s late husband, was George Ross’s nephew.
I could rest my case now, but there are two more points that need mention.
Naysayers explain that there is no Congressional Record of Betsy Ross ever being commissioned for the project.
Turns out, at that time in history, Congress appointed scads of committees, many secret. I have to wonder, as do Betsy’s archivists, if anyone paid much attention to the one trying to find a seamstress!
Historians note that there is no receipt for Betsy’s labor showing that the Continental Congress or one of its three committee members paid her.
My answer to that is they had precious little paper anyway. Maybe she should have sewn them a receipt made out of material.
Americans have dubbed their flag with fond names such as Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes, and the Red, White and Blue.
We sing about this flag; we write poems about it; and we revere it because it symbolizes our freedom and provides hope to others seeking that as well.
William Canby, however, did something a bit different than we when he gazed upon this flag. I’m guessing he thought of his sweet grandmother, Betsy Ross, every time he saw it, and he remembered her great deed well.
We should all be so lucky to have such a grandmother and such a grandson.
I still believe in Betsy Ross!
