Betsy Ross — Widow, Upholsterer, Defense Contractor
BETSY ROSS PRESENTING THE OLD GLORY
WALTER HASKELL HINTON
July 19, 2010 — Betsy Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole was widowed three times. She herself lived to be 84. Whether an historically accurate figure or enhanced by American folklore, Betsy was a woman to be reckoned with.
“Any second grader can tell you that early in the American Revolution, a Philadelphia woman named Betsy Ross made an American flag,” writes Ruth Graham in Salon. “She often appears in this flag creation account as a demure seamstress simply eager to help out the Revolutionary effort in any way she could.”
“But what school books did not tell you is that she also accepted a hefty £14 payment — roughly $2,000 in today’s dollars – for that ‘first’ flag. Or that she was married three times. The Betsy Ross that emerges in recent research is no sweet seamstress, but rather a tough businesswoman fond of dark snuff and storytelling.” Continue reading…
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