Audrey+M.


 * Hello I am Betsy Ross. Did you know that I made the first American Flag? Let me tell you how it all began.

I was born on January 1, 1752 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My father and mother were Quakers, and so was I. I was the 7th girl and 8th child of 17 children. As a girl, I wanted to do something that nobody else had done. I spent a lot time thinking about this, and couldn't come up with anything. I was very discouraged.

After completing my schooling my father apprenticed me to a local upholster. Today you may think of an upholster as a sofa maker, but back in colonial times, their skills were more diverse. When I was alive and upholster performed a number of sewing jobs, including flag making.

It was at my job where I fell in love with John Ross, another apprentice. John was an Anglican I was a a Quaker. Quakers frowned upon inter-denominational marriages.The punishment for such an offence was being separated from the society of friends and family. On November 4, 1773 John and I ran off and were married in a small tavern in New Jersey. I was 21 years old at the time. My wedding cased me to be separated from my family and friends. Two years later, John and I started our own upholstery business.  In 1776 war came to Philadelphia. JOhn and I were having trouble coming by fabric. Business was slow.John joined the military and died in an explosion of gun powder. I was only 24 years old. IN early June of that same year, I was visited by George Wahington ( I used to make his suits.) George Ross, and Robert Morris in my upholstery shop. It was at that meeting when they asked me to sew the first American Flag. Later I joined the fighting Quakers to help out our country. I was remarried in June of 1777 to a sea captain named Joseph Ashburn. Jospeph and I had two children together. Later, Joseph was captured and killed by the British Army. I learned about my husband's death from an old friend John Claypool, who I later married on May 8th 1783. John Claypool and I had five daughters together. I had a total of 7 children in my life, only 5 made it to adulthood. She died on January 30th 1836. I was 84. **