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 The True Story of
 THE AMERICAN FLAG


 JOHN H. FOW




 [Illustration: Fig. 8
 FLAG CARRIED BY THE FIRST CITY TROOP OF PHILADELPHIA IN ESCORTING
 WASHINGTON ACROSS THE JERSEYS ON HIS WAY TO TAKE COMMAND AT CAMBRIDGE]




 THE TRUE STORY
 OF THE
 AMERICAN FLAG


 BY
 JOHN H. FOW


 PHILADELPHIA
 WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL
 1908




 Copyright, 1908
 BY
 JOHN H. FOW


       *       *       *       *       *




INTRODUCTION


I was induced to make this research by the late William H. Egle,
Librarian of the State Library at Harrisburg, whose knowledge of the
early history of Pennsylvania was of valuable assistance to me in
preparing the data for a history of the country along the Delaware river
prior to 1682 (yet unfinished). Mr. Egle agreed with me that the claim
of Mr. Canby that BETSY ROSS designed and made the first flag was
legendary and without that foundation which is so necessary to uphold
claims of this character. Statements of such a character, when allowed
to go unrefuted, do harm to the history of any people, inasmuch as they
encourage others to build "air castles" and purchase old portraits to be
palmed off on others as _our_ "grandfather" who "fit" in the Revolution,
or _our_ "grandmother" who carried supplies to the troops at Valley
Forge.

History is the best incentive to make men love their country; it
encourages that patriotism which never falters, even at the cannon's
mouth. The sight of a flag or the music of a band merely enthuses as
long as one is in sight or the other can be heard; but history and its
knowledge are lasting and a source of pride. So, therefore, let it be
true in all its details, no matter who may fall from the high pedestals
upon which they have been placed by vain-glorious descendants.

                                                       JOHN H. FOW.




THE AMERICAN FLAG


"It will probably never be known who designed our Union of Stars, the
records of Congress being silent upon the subject, and there being no
mention or suggestion of it in any of the voluminous correspondence or
diaries of the time, public or private, which have been
published."--_Rear-Admiral Preble_.


So far as regards the adoption of the combination of stars and stripes,
the same assertion can be safely made. As to the origin of each this
research, it is hoped, will prove conclusively, first, that colored
stripes representing a combination for a common purpose were used nearly
two hundred years before the Declaration of Independence; second, that
stars were used in the union of a flag in November, 1775, on a flag
raised on a Massachusetts privateer commanded by Captain Manley
(see Fig. 1), and that they were also used in the design of the book
plate of the Washington family along with three stripes.

There can be no doubt that the stripes were made thirteen as a
mere matter of sentiment to represent the colonies engaged in the
Revolutionary struggle. As a matter of fact, the number thirteen
appeared in a large number of instances during the Revolution, and was
apparently used as an object lesson to remind the colonists that they
were united in a common cause.

The colors of the stripes have no special meaning or significance,
except that which anyone may apply who desires to make use of his
imagination, or who may become sentimental upon the subject. Many have
written and commented upon it; some have said that the red stripes mean
courage, others war, daring, determination, and so on, and that the
white stripes mean purity, peace, justice, or equity.

    "Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
     And all thy hues were born in heaven."

As a matter of fact, the idea of stripes in a flag to represent a
combination for a common purpose originated in 1582 in the Netherlands,
and symbolized the union of the Dutch Republic in its struggles against
the power of Philip and the persecutions of Alva.

In a paper read before the New Jersey Historical Society by a Mr. Haven
in January, 1872, he suggested "that the combination of our flag, the
stars and stripes, were favored as a compliment to Washington, because
they were upon the book plate of the General's family." He further
stated "that the stars on the book plate were of Roman origin," and in
support quoted from Virgil "Redire ad astra," meaning and inferring that
a return to the stars meant a future home of peace and happiness for the
human race, and that is what this nation would eventually become.
Assertions and statements similar to the above may be quoted by the
score, wherein reasons are given based upon theory and imagination as
to the origin of the devices which compose our national banner.

The claim that has been made about Betsy Ross, who worked at
upholstering and as a seamstress during the Revolution, who is said to
have lived in a house either No. 80 or 89 Arch street, Philadelphia, now
said to be No. 239 Arch street, as having some time in June, 1776, made
and designed the first American flag as we now worship it, cannot be
corroborated by historical research.

The claim is one of that legendary type that the Rabbins of old handed
down for centuries, and which were believed to be true, until modern
investigation proved their falsity, or like the imagination of artists
who attempt to paint historical events without consulting details,
historical, and geographical. The two most notorious in our history are
Leutze's painting of Washington crossing the Delaware, and Benjamin
West's painting of William Penn treating with the Indians. As to the
first, I write from authority, having been designated to represent the
Legislature of Pennsylvania as one of a committee of three to act in
conjunction with the Trenton Battle Monument Committee to select an
historical subject for the medallion to be placed upon one of the four
sides of a monument, erected at Trenton, to represent Pennsylvania's
part in that memorable event, we chose as the subject "Washington
Crossing the Delaware," and the result of our labor, and investigation
in conjunction with the Monument Committee can be seen to-day on the
west side of the monument. The bronze tablet placed there by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania truthfully delineates that notable event.
The late General Stryker, of New Jersey, aided us, and furnished us
books, and documents to obtain part of the data. The tablet represents
a small rowboat, with General Knox sitting in the bow of the boat, and
Washington in the stern, the man rowing the boat was a Mr. Cadwalader.
He lived at McKonkey's Ferry, on the Pennsylvania side of the river.
Leutze in his painting has Washington standing alongside of a horse in a
large scow, such as were used in those days on the upper Delaware to
take produce to the Philadelphia markets. A number of others are in the
same boat, one holding aloft a flag containing a blue union with
thirteen white stars--a flag that did not come into existence until six
months after the battle was fought.

 [Illustration: FLAG CARRIED IN THE REVOLUTION BY COUNT PULASKI'S LEGION:
 UNITA VIRTUS FORCIOR.]

As to West's picture, one need only look at it, and then read the facts
as related in any history of Pennsylvania, and it will be found how
historically untrue it is. One instance alone would be sufficient; that
is, in the painting, the vessel in which Penn came over is anchored
out in the river, when, as a matter of fact, she never came up to
Philadelphia. She was quarantined below Chester because of the smallpox,
and Penn was rowed up the river from Chester in a small boat, and landed
near the residence of the Swensons, two Swedes, who lived at Wicaco, and
from whom he bought the land comprising old Philadelphia. Again, the elm
tree is in full leaf, yet the "pow-wow" that Penn held with the Indians
took place in November, and elm trees do not have leaves on them in this
latitude in November. But why digress from the subject about which I
started to write, merely to show that artists and those seeking for
family distinction are not to be relied upon as truthful delineators of
history.

The Ross claim is based upon the assertions set forth in a paper read in
1870 by Mr. William Canby before the members of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania. It was claimed in the paper or essay that from traditions
existing in the Ross family, Betsy Ross, the grandmother of Mr. Canby
on his mother's side, was the maker and designer of the first American
flag, and that she lived on Arch street. A research shows that a Betsy
Ross did live on Arch street; but the exact location is doubtful, and
that her maiden name was Griscom. She was married three times, first to
John Ross, second to Ashburn, and lastly to John Claypoole.

 [Illustration: FLAG CARRIED IN THE REVOLUTION BY COUNT PULASKI'S LEGION:
 NON ALIUSREGIT.]

It was asserted in the paper read that a committee of Congress, along
with General Washington, in June, 1776, called at her house, and engaged
her to make a flag from a rough drawing, which, not suiting her, was at
her suggestion, redrawn by Washington. From other traditional resources
it was also claimed, that Mrs. Ross changed the stars from six-pointed
to five-pointed. The whole claim is based upon tales told from memory
by relatives, no other proofs have ever been found, and a careful and
thorough research fails to discover any. In 1878 a pamphlet was
issued from the printing office of the State printer at Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, written by a Mr. Reigart, based upon the above claim, and
calling Mrs. Ross "the immortal heroine that originated the first flag
of the Union." The book had an alleged portrait of Betsy Ross making
the first flag; but it was afterwards discovered that it was really the
portrait of an old Quaker lady who was living in Lancaster at the time
the book was written. The book was so unreliable that it made the Ross
claim appear ridiculous in the eyes of the public.

If Mrs. Ross made a flag in an Arch street house, as claimed, it was
made after a design that had been conceived and born somewhere else, and
her contribution was no more than her labor in sewing on some stars, the
same labor that is given by any girl or woman who works in a flag
manufactory. Even according to the paper which was read before the
Society in 1870 it is admitted that a design made by someone else was
taken to her, but that she made certain changes in it. Now, that is all
there is in the Betsy Ross claim; yet the growing youths of the nation
are being misled and taught an historical untruth when it is asserted
that Mrs. Ross designed, originated and made the first American flag,
and a lithograph has been issued showing that historical untruth, which
has not as good a foundation, in fact, as the two paintings to which I
have referred, because the events sought to be depicted in those two
cases did happen. All the sentiment exhibited over the Betsy Ross story
is lost upon those who have looked the matter up, and are conversant
with the history and growth of our national emblem, which I will now
take up. Those seeking for more elaborate details are referred to
Bancroft's History of the United States; Lossing's Field Book of the
Revolution; Philadelphia Times, April 6, 1877; The American, The
Colonial and the Pennsylvania Archives; Journals of Congress, Vols. 1
and 2; Preble's History of the Flag; Cooper's Naval History; Life of
John Adams; Hamilton and Sarmiento's Histories of our Flag; Sparks'
and Washington Irving's Lives of Washington; Washington's own letters,
diaries and other writings, and William Cullen Bryant's History of the
United States, in which pages 420 and 421 of the third volume he devotes
to a history of the flag, but nowhere does he mention the Ross claim. He
evidently, like myself, could not find any authority for it, yet his
history was published in 1879--nine years after the Ross claim was made.
There are many other authorities, but not one of them gives her the
credit claimed, and all of them except those written since the claim
was made, leaving out the Bryant history, do not