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Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole aka Betsy Ross

Guest post by: Linda Burson

Article Overview: In celebration of Independence Day, July 4 2009, Mazon Associates, Inc. featured Betsy Ross as its Entrepreneur of the Month in the July 2009 issue of Building Bridges.

Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole aka Betsy Ross

Betsy Ross' life was not too different from that of an entrepreneur today, except that she lived in a different era, on a different playing field, and began her sewing business at the start of the Revolutionary War (1775-1786). A fourth-generation American born on January 1, 1752, she was the eighth of 17 children and grew up in a strict Quaker society. Betsy learned how to sew from her great-aunt, Sarah Griscom. After completing Quaker public school, her father apprenticed her to a local upholsterer, where she fell in love with another apprentice, John Ross, a non-Quaker. Because the Quaker society did not allow marriages to non-Quakers, Betsy (then 21) and John eloped on a November night in 1773, causing her expulsion from the Quaker congregation. In 1775, Betsy and John Ross started their own sewing business in Philadelphia, a difficult decision at the time - the war had started, competition was tough, fabrics were hard to come by, business was slow and they could not rely on the Quaker community for business. On Sunday's they attended Christ Church, many times finding George Washington, (head of the Continental Army), sitting in an adjacent pew. Less than three years after they married, John joined the Pennsylvania militia and died on January 21, 1776 of injuries when an ammunition storehouse he was guarding exploded.

Betsy acquired property and kept up the sewing business, and began making flags for Pennsylvania. She made history when, during a visit to her home in late May 1776 by a secret committee (George Washington, Robert Morris and her husband's uncle, George Ross) she was presentedwith a drawing of a 6-point star and asked if she could create this for the new nation's flag. Betsy however, suggested a 5-pointed star that would beeasier to make. She demonstrated by folding a piece of paper and, with a single snip of her scissors, produced a symmetrical five-pointed star. This so impressed the committee that they readily accepted her suggestion and commissioned her to stitch the first American "stars and stripes" flag which had 13 stripes and 13 stars representing the original 13 colonies. She finished the flag in early June 1776, prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July.

In June 1777 she married a sea captain, Joseph Ashburn. During the winter of 1777, their home was forcibly shared with British soldiers. This same winter, the Continental Army was suffering its historic winter at Valley Forge. Betsy and Joseph had two daughters (one whom died as a child). While on a trip to the West Indies in 1781 to pick up war supplies, Captain Ashburn was captured and sent to a British prison, where he died in March 1782. Betsy was told of her husband's death by another sailor and old friend, John Claypoole, who had been imprisoned with her husband.

In May 1783, John Claypoole and Betsy were married at Christ Church. John abandoned his life at sea and joined Betsy in her business for a short time before taking a position at the U.S. Customs House in Philadelphia. Betsy and John had five daughters (one of whom died at nine months). After 20 years of ill health, John died in 1817. Betsy never remarried but continued working and bringing many of her family into the business. On her retirement in 1827, she went to live with a daughter who continued to operate the business. Betsy died on January 30, 1836, at the age of 84.

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Article Tags: betsy ross, building bridges, celebration of independence day, elizabeth griscom ross, entrepreneur, independence day, july 4, mazon



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