10 Interesting Facts About Betsy Ross

A painting of Betsy Ross sewing the flag. Photo From painting by G. Liebscher – Wikimedia Commons

10 Interesting Facts About Betsy Ross

*Originally published by Beatrice W On April 2022 and Updated by Vanessa R on May 2023

Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole, simply known as Betsy Ross, was an American upholsterer who was credited with making the first American flag, which is a national symbol of patriotism.

Betsy Ross was born on 1st January 1752, to Samuel Griscom and Rebecca James Griscom on the family farm in Gloucester City, New Jersey. Betsy was the eighth of seventeen children, of whom only nine survived childhood.

Betsy’s grandson William Canby presented a paper “The History of the Flag of the United States” to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1870. Canby based his paper on stories that he had heard from family members and his memories of his grandmother’s tales.

Ross family tradition holds that, in June 1776, General George Washington together with Robert Morris and George Ross (members of the Continental Congress Committee) asked his grandmother to make a flag for the new country on the verge of declaring its independence.

The flag was to have 13 stars and 13 stripes, to stand for the 13 American colonies. As Washington had chosen, Ross suggested that the stars have five points instead of six.

Here are 10 interesting facts about Betsy Ross.

1. Betsy Ran Away from Home

Betsy grew up in a Quakers household and was schooled at a Quaker-run state school.  Upon finishing her education, she became an apprentice for the popular upholsterer, John Webster.

While working for Webster, she met and fell in love with John Ross, her fellow apprentice. John was the son of a Reverend at Christ Church. The Quakers did not approve of their members marrying people outside of their faith.

Betsy had no option but to run away from home. The couple eloped in 1773. They got married at Hugg’s Tavern in Gloucester City, New Jersey. The young couple soon started their own upholstery business and later joined Christ Church as Betsy had been expelled from the Quaker congregation.

2. She Was a Skilled Upholster

This image from c 1917 depicts what is presumed to be Betsy Ross and two children presenting the “Betsy Ross flag” to George Washington and three other men.
Photo By Edward Percy Moran – Wikimedia Commons

The Griscom family had skilled people. Betsy’s dad was a farmer and her grandfather a carpenter. Her great aunt taught her how to sew when she was still young.

Later, the famous upholsterer, John Webster taught her how to make and repair many items, including curtains, tablecloths, bedcovers, and rugs. She became a very skilled seamstress and upholsterer.

3. She Outlived Her Three Husbands

In 1775, two years into their marriage, John Ross, who was a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Militia, was assigned to guard munitions when the Revolutionary War broke out. Unfortunately, he was killed in a gunpowder explosion. Betsy was widowed at 24 and with no child.

In 1777, Betsy married her second husband, Joseph Ashburn. He was a sailor. The Royal Navy captured his ship and charged him with treason. He died in jail in 1780.

In 1783 she married John Claypoole her third husband. They enjoyed 34 years of marriage. Unfortunately, after years of poor health, Claypoole died in 1817.

4. Betsy’s Seven Children

Betsy had 7 children, 5 of whom lived to adulthood. She had no children with her first husband. She got two children with her second husband. The first daughter was named Zilla but she died and the second one was Eliza.

With her third husband, she got five daughters namely: Clarissa, Susanna, Jane, Rachel, and Harriet, who died while still a baby.

5. Made the First Flag

An image of a painting of Betsy showing the founding fathers how to cut the 5 points star.
Photo By Jean Leon Gerome Ferris – Wikimedia Commons

When George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross (he was the uncle of Betsy’s first husband John Ross) visited Betsy’s shop they brought a rough sketch of a flag with thirteen red and white stripes and thirteen six-pointed stars.

Betsy suggested that the six-pointed stars be changed to five-pointed stars because they were easier to make. She demonstrated how to achieve the five-point stars by folding a piece of paper into triangles and with a “single snip of the scissors” she made a perfect star. The men agreed to change the design and the first flag was made.

6. Hardworking, Brave, Independent, and Forward-Thinking Business-woman

Betsy was only 21 when she fell in love with John Ross. She was brave and forward-thinking for choosing her love over family and a church that couldn’t allow her to marry outsiders.

Together with her husband, turned their skill as upholsterers into a thriving business. After her husband’s death, she continued working hard and not relying on anyone but herself. She ran a successful business through thick and thin until she retired.

7. She Lost Her Sight in Old Age

Betsy stopped working and retired because of her poor eyesight. One of her daughters, Clarissa, took over her mum’s business. Betsy moved in with her other daughter Susanna in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

In her last days, she was living with yet another one of her daughters, Jane, in Philadelphia. By then she was completely blind. She died peacefully in her sleep on 30th January 1836 at the age of 84 years.

8. Three Different Burial Sites

Betsy Ross burial site in Mount Moriah Cemetery.
Photo By Dwkaminski – Wikimedia Commons

After her passing, Betsy was buried in the Quaker burial ground at North Fifth Street in Philadelphia. Twenty years later, her remains were moved to Mount Moriah Cemetery. A flagpole was erected at the site of her grave, by the Daughters of the American Revolution, in her memory.

In 1975, the remains were moved to a courtyard adjacent to the Betsy Ross House. This was to commemorate 200 years of independence.

9. The Betsy Ross House

Betsy Ross House, Pennsylvania, U.S.A
Photo By avishai teicher – Wikimedia Commons

The Betsy Ross House is a landmark in Philadelphia, that sits on Arch Street, several blocks from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. It is said to be the site where the seamstress and flag-maker Betsy Ross lived at the time she was sawing the first American Flag. 

Her remains and those of her last husband are buried in that same compound.

10. A Bridge in Her Honour

Betsy Ross Bridge over the Delaware River, Philadelphia PA – Pennsauken NJ
Photo By Jag9889 – Wikimedia Commons

The Betsy Ross Bridge, also known as the Ross Memorial Bridge is a continuous bridge that runs across the Delaware River from the City of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania to Pennsauken, New Jersey.

It was constructed from 1969 to 1974 and started being used in 1976.  It is 2586 metres long and 41 metres high. It has six lanes with two shoulder lanes.

A Brief of Betty’s Marriage and Family

She fell in love with John Ross, another apprentice, while working for Webster. The son of the previous assistant pastor of Christ Church was John Ross. Because the Quakers forbade their members from getting married to anyone who did not share their religious beliefs, Betsy’s family disapproved of her relationship with John Ross. It is important to note that at only 21 years of age, she eloped with John to Hugg’s Tavern in Gloucester this obviously created tension between her and her family and shows just how rebellious and free-spirited she was.

Edward Percy Moran, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

John and Betsy Ross started their own upholstery company in Philadelphia and joined Christ Church. Their business was prosperous, and in 1774, it is said that they even created bed hangings for George Washington. John Ross served in the Pennsylvania militia as well. John Ross died after three years of marriage. At the age of 24, Betsy Ross lost her husband. She carried on operating the upholstery company while working on the Continental Army’s uniforms, tents, and flags.

On June 15, 1777, she married Joseph Ashburn, who would become her second husband. Their first daughter passed away when she was just nine months old, but they had two children. In 1781, a British ship seized Ashburn’s ship, a commercial seaman who served throughout the American Revolution. In May of 1782, he passed away from an undisclosed illness after being imprisoned.

Ross was informed of Ashburn’s death later that year by a fellow prisoner named John Claypoole. Having become friends, Claypoole and Ross later got hitched.  It is quite evident that she never quite gave up on love despite the fact that love didn’t seem to have been very kind to her. Her final love gave her 34 years of marriage and it was in this marriage that she had 5 children. The fact that she was hurt didn’t stop her from loving again and this shows how strong she really was.