American Heroes~ELIZABETH GRISCOM (1752-1826)~by rldubour

 

ELIZABETH GRISCOM (1752-1826)

In colonial times an upholsterer
Performed sewing if one would ask.
And unbeknownst to Miss Elizabeth
A great honor would be her task.

Was known to triumph through adversity
And would forever keep her faith.
A fourth generation American
One of seventeen, Betsy was the eighth.

At twenty one in Gloucester, New Jersey
She eloped with her friend John Ross.
Was not long after a large explosion
Proved to be Betsy’s first great loss.

Her second husband died in prison
A third was very sickly notes recall.
Two infants died of seven daughters
She maintained a business through this all.

At Christ Church she knelt and prayed
As George Washington shared her pew.
A special request he would ask of her
When that sermon was all through.

It was Betsy Ross who they chose to ask
To attend a meeting they would address.
Commissioned by the flag committee
Formed by the Continental Congress.

To help design our Nation’s first flag
She knew how important this was to do.
The stars and stripes in proper place
And the colors red, white and blue.

Thirteen colonies each had a star
Placed in a circle they all should be.
This would insure that all were equal
And stand for freedom and liberty.

The first draft was a six point star
As the stars in a constellation.
The end result would be only five
That would be Betsy’s own creation.

The color red is from the British
And white means to secede.
Blue is for the stars in heaven
And one stripe for each colony.

Today we view and salute our flag
We think of freedom and liberty
It is our Nation’s greatest symbol
Betsy Ross~~ a heroine in our history.

AUTHOR NOTES*

Even if she did not make the first flag — even if the visit by George Washington never happened — Betsy Ross was an example of what many women of her time found as the reality in time of war: widowhood, single motherhood, managing household and property independently, quick remarriage for economic reasons. She was born Elizabeth Griscom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Samuel and Rebecca James Griscom.