The National tribune., 1910-08-04
ABOUT THE FLAG.
The Betsy Ross Banner-Much Legend
ary HiStOry.Ie

Inc ESetSy ItOSS oanhef-Much LeSenO
AIRY HistOryue
Mrs. A. C. Hill, rs Lake street, Sara
nae Lake, N. Y, asks who made tn,
flag that was contrived out of a blu,
flannel shirt and red flannel petticoat
and over what fort this flag waved.
Mrs. Hill has got her story littl,
mixed. 1t is stated in history that tn,
first military incident connected will
the new flag occurred on Aug. 2, 1777
when Lieuts. Bird and Brant invested
Fort Stanwix, then commanded by Col
Peter Gansevoort. The garrison wa.
without a flag when the enemy ap
peared, but their patriotism and in
genuity soon supplied one in conform.
| ity to the pattern just adopted by the
| Continental Congress. Shirts were cut
| up to form the white stripes, bits oi
scarlet cloth were Joined for the red
and the blue ground for the stars was
composed of a cloth cloak belonging tc
Capt. Abraham SwartWout, of Dutchess
County, who was then in the fort Be
fore sunset this curious mosaic stand
ard, as precious to the beleaguered gar
rison as the most beautifully wrought
flag of silk and needle work, was float
ing over the bastionS. The siege was
raised on Aug. 22. but weNa not told
what became of the improvised flag"
Mrs. Hill also asks why the United
States is called Uncle Sam.
1t is always hard to find the real rea-
sons for things of this kind, because
they have such small beginnings, and
are very often used for a number of
years before anybody begins to think
of their origin. One of the reasons,
presumably, is that the initials u. S.
suggested that a name be given to suit
them, and so Uncle Sam was born. That
is one of the traditions.
V. c. Fuller, of Frankfort, Ind, wants
to know all about Betsy Ross.
Betsy Ross was born in Boston, Jan.
/, 1882. She died in Boston, and was
buried there in 1886. The question of
who designed the, flag has never been
settled. Tradition says that George
Washington designed it, and that it
was his coat of arms which suggested
the design. There is not single line of
history to substantiate this legend.
Washington was yoluminous letter
writer, and kept diary in which to
record his actions for almost every hour
of his life. Neither letters nor diary
contained any suggestion Of Washing
tons connection with the designing >of
the flag. There is a suggestion that
Robert Morris, George Ross and Geo
Washington were members of a COM
mittee appointed to see about designing
the flag. and that this committee met in
June Of 1916 and designed the flag
1t is but fair to state that there is not
a single line of exact history to show
that this is true. 1t is entirely Legend
airy. That this statement is not true is
certainly borne out by a letter from
Capt. VIM. Richards, "Storekeeper."
which is really equivalent to Quarter
master who wrote to the Committee of
Safety, under date of Aug. 10, 1916. In
this letter he says: Gentlemen: / hope
you have agreed what sort of coIors
am to have made for the gaIIeys. etc,
as they are much wanted. This COM
mittee did meet after June IA. 1777,
and in the house Of Betsey Ross, and
from their consultation, whatever it
may have been. the Flag was born.
Again. on Oct. Is. he writes: Cen
tlemen: The Commander was with me
this morning. and says the fort has not
any colors to hoist If they should be
called to duty. 1t lis not in my power
to give them it until there is a design
to make the colors by On May 29,
1777. Elizabeth Roasl otherwise known
as Betsy Ross) was paid fla, IL shill-
ings and two-pence for making ships
colors for Vim. Rfchards's store. This
is the same Capt. Richards who COM
that there was no design By which to
make the flag. Preble, in his story
History of the Flag suggests that this
ships colors" might have been Penn
sylvania State colors.
Every single word that definite hiss
tory has given us concerning the legend
pf the flag was that on June IA, 1777,
Congress entered on its Journal an Off
cal Endorsement of the Stars and
Stripes in a resolution worded as fol-
lows:
Resolved That the Flag of the
United States be 13 stripes. alternate
red and white; that the Union be 13
stars, white in a blue field, representing
a new constellation
All the Journals of Congress have
been printed, and there is not a line
this resolution to show whether it was
brought in as the report of commit
tee or entered as a resolution by discus
sion on the floor of Congress.
It seems very odd, indeed, that the
of the day took no notice
of the resolution of June Ia,
establishing the flag. nor Is there any
mention of it in any letters. diaries OF
Of the kind which have come
to light up to the present time. The
first real allusion to the Stars and
Stripes occurs in the narrative of Lieut..
VIM. Bigley, who was serving under
Gen. Burgoyne at the time referred to
June 30. 1777-in speaking of
the advance of the troops upon Fort
and at the end. of this
narrative he says: THE 9Th took their
colors. They We're very handsome, a
flag of the United States. 13 stripes al
ternate red and white, IL stars white,
in a field of blue, representing a new
In the Town and Country Magazine
for August, 1777, copied from the Lon
don Edition Extraordinary appeared
the following: The 9th regiment cap
tured during this expedition about 30
persons, some stores and baggage and
the colors of the I'd Hampshire regi-
ment"
Betsy Ross made the first flag in
little house in Arch street, Philadel-
phia, now known as No. 339. This
house has now been purchased from
its former owners by 1O-cent subscrip-
tions from all over the world, and is
one of the show places of Philadelphia.
Betsy Ross made the flag of bunting
purchased in England and of thread
purchased in England. 1t was not un-
til 1866 that bunting was made in the
United States. About that time Gen.
Ben Butler established his bunting fac
tories in Lowell, Mass On Feb 81,
1866, the United States Senate received
"A flag manufactured by the United
States Bunting Company, of which But
Ter was a member. This flag was II
feet fly by 12 feet hoist. 1t, is believed
that this is the first real American
flag that ever waved over''the Capitol
of the United States.s Up to this time
all the flags Of the United States had
f.tI LrnO oh