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Betsy Ross was born
in 1752, one of 17 children in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. In
1773, she ran away to marry John Ross. They returned to
Philadelphia and opened an upholstery and sewing shop. John
was killed three years later in an explosion while serving
in the state militia (army). She was remarried and had two
daughters. Her second husband was also killed in the
military. Ross married again and had five daughters. She and
her husband continued to run the upholstery shop. In 1817,
her third husband died and Betsy moved in with one of her
daughters. Ross died in 1836.
It was in 1777 that
the Continental Congress decided to adopt the stars and
stripes as the national flag. No one knows for sure, but
most people believe that Betsy Ross was commissioned to sew
that first flag in her upholstery shop.
Popular folklore
tells us that George Washington, Robert Morris and George
Ross came to her shop to ask her to sew the first flag in
May of 1776. Washington showed her a design with six pointed
stars but Ross convinced him to include five pointed stars
instead.
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