Ross, Betsy, 1752–1836, American seamstress, b. Philadelphia. Her full name was Elizabeth Griscom Ross. She is known to have made flags during the American Revolution, although the long-accepted story that she designed and made the first American national flag (the Stars and Stripes) is generally discredited.

Bibliography

See R. Thompson, The Last of Philadelphia's Free Quakers (1972).

Ross, Betsy

orig. Elizabeth Griscom

(born Jan. 1, 1752, Philadelphia, Pa.—died Jan. 30, 1836, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) American patriot. She worked as a seamstress and upholsterer, carrying on her husband's upholstery business after he was killed in the American Revolution. According to legend, in 1776 she was visited by George Washington, Robert Morris, and her husband's uncle George Ross, who asked her to make a flag for the new nation based on a sketch by Washington. She is supposed also to have suggested the use of the five-pointed star rather than the six-pointed one chosen by Washington. Though Ross did make flags for the navy, no firm evidence supports the legend of the national flag. In 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the U.S. flag.

Ross, Betsy (b. Elizabeth Griscom) (1752–1836) seamstress; born in Philadelphia. Although she was a well-known seamstress and the official flagmaker for the Pennsylvania Navy, there is no real evidence that she designed or made the first flag of the United States (in 1776). The story was first told in 1870 by a grandson.