Born January 1, 1752
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died January 30, 1836
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Shop manager, upholsterer, seamstress

"I remember having heard my mother … say frequently that she, with her own hands … made the first Star Spangled Banner that ever was made."
Rachel Fletcher, daughter of Betsy Ross
Portrait: Betsy Ross. Reproduced by permission of AP/Wide World Photos.

Betsy Ross is widely believed to have made the first American flag. Widowed three times, she had seven daughters, lived through the American Revolution, and for sixty-two years ran her own small business. This spirited, independent woman lived a remarkable life that was very much tied up with the events of the Revolution.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole, who will be called here by her more popular name, Betsy Ross, was born on January 1, 1752, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ross was the eighth of seventeen children born to Rebecca and Samuel Griscom, who ran...