John Ross

John Ross (1752 New Castle, Delaware - 21 January 1776 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was the son of Episcopal minister Rev. Aeneas Ross and Sarah Leech, and the first husband of Elizabeth Griscom, popularly known as Betsy Ross.

Marriage

• Elizabeth Griscom Thereafter known as the iconic Betsy Ross, the woman who (in storied histories) stitched the 1st American flag b.1 January 1752 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; m. 14 November 1773 Hugg's Tavern, New Jersey; d. 30 January 1836 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; no children of this union.

Biographical Summary

While apprenticed to a local upholsterer named William Webster, John Ross fell in love with another apprentice, Betsy Griscom, who was a fourth-generation colonist and the daughter of Samuel Griscom, a Philadelphia Quaker, builder and lumberyard owner.

On a November night in 1773, the young couple eloped. They ferried across the Delaware River to Hugg's Tavern and were married in New Jersey. Quakers frowned on inter-denominational marriages. The penalty for such unions was severe — the guilty party was "read out", or expelled from the Society of Friends. Being read out meant being cut off socially and economically from both family and congregation. One's entire history and community would be instantly dissolved. Marrying Betsy caused her to be read out of meeting and irrevocable split from her family. She and John joined Christ Church, where the congregation included George Washington and his family.

Less than two years after their marriage, Betsy and John started their own upholstery business. Their decision was a bold one as competition was tough and they could no longer count on Betsy's Quaker circle for business. Fabrics needed for business were hard to come by and business was slow. John joined the Pennsylvania militia. While guarding an ammunition cache in mid-January 1776, John Ross was mortally wounded in an explosion. He died on January 21st and was buried in Christ Church, leaving Betsy a childless widow at the age of 24. She continued to run the upholstery business, mending uniforms and making tents, blankets, musketballs, and cartridges for the Continental army. In late May or early June of 1776, Betsy had that fateful meeting with the Committee of Three: George Washington, George Ross, and Robert Morris, which led to the sewing of the first flag.

Sources

• Godfrey Memorial Library, comp. American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Godfrey Memorial Library. American Genealogical-Biographical Index. Middletown, CT, USA: Godfrey Memorial Library. Volume: 149, Page Number: 513, Biographical Info: Rev.War, Reference: {813}:1290.
• Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection - Deaths [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001.
• Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Source number: 985.003; Source type: Pedigree chart; Number of Pages: 10.
• Godfrey Memorial Library, comp. American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Godfrey Memorial Library. American Genealogical-Biographical Index. Middletown, CT, USA: Godfrey Memorial Library. Volume: 149, Page Number: 513, Reference: Gen. Column of the " Boston Transcript". 1906-1941.( The greatest single source of material for gen. Data for the N.E. area and for the period 1600-1800. Completely indexed in the Index.): 3 Sep 1907, 9207.

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Birth: 1752 Death: Jan. 21, 1776

Revolutionary War Soldier. John Ross was the first husband of Betsy Ross. He married Elizabeth Griscom in 1773. Ross, like his wife, was an upholsterer. His father was Reverend Aeneas Ross, a former assistant rector of Christ Church. John Ross, a member of the militia, was killed by an explosion of gunpowder which he was guarding.

" As a member of the local Pennsylvania Provincial Militia and its units from the city of Philadelphia, John Ross was assigned to guard munitions and, according to one legend, was killed by a gunpowder explosion, but family sources have doubts about this claim.[12] The 24-year-old Elizabeth ("Betsy") continued working in the upholstery business repairing uniforms and making tents, blankets, and stuffed paper tube cartridges with musket balls for prepared packaged ammunition in 1779 for the Continental Army." ~ wikipedia

Family links:

Spouse:

 Betsy Griscom Ross (1752 - 1836)

Children:

 Sarah Ross Newman (1775 - 1853)*

"After (wife Betsy's) schooling at a Quaker-run public school, her father apprenticed her to an upholsterer named William Webster.[9] At this job, she fell in love with fellow apprentice John Ross (nephew of George Ross Jr, signer of the Declaration of Independence), who was the son of the Rev. Aeneas Ross (and his wife Sarah Leach), an Anglican (later Episcopal) priest and assistant rector at the historic city parish of Christ Church. The young couple eloped in 1773 when she was age 21, marrying at Hugg's Tavern in Gloucester City, New Jersey.[10] The marriage caused a split from her Griscom family and meant her expulsion from the Quaker congregation. The young couple soon started their own upholstery business and later joined Christ Church, where their fellow congregants occasionally included visiting Virginia colonial militia regimental commander, Colonel, and soon-to-be-General George Washington (of the newly organized Continental Army)" from wikipedia.

• Calculated relationship

John Ross, Rev. War Patriot at findagrave