Betsy Ross was born in 1752, named Elizabeth, but usually called 'Betsy'. She was a fourth-generation American; her great grandfather had settled in New Jersey in 1680, one year before William Penn founded Philadelphia. She was the eighth child of 17. Her family was Quaker, and when she eloped in 1773 with John Ross, an Episcopalian, it caused a major upset for her family. Quakers did not accept inter-denominational marriages, and the offending parties were subsequently cut off emotionally and financially from their family and the entire Quaker community.
Her marriage was short - John Ross joined the colonial militia in 1776 and was fatally wounded when an ammunition cache he was guarding exploded. Betsy tried in vain to nurse him back to health, but he succumbed to his injuries. In June of that same year, George Washington asked Betsy Ross to sew the first American Flag.
In 1777, Betsy married again, this time to a sea Captain, John Ashbourn. They had two daughters, but one died in infancy. In 1782, her husband was captured by the British while he was attempting to get supplies for the colonial army. He was imprisoned in Old Mill Prison in England, where he died shortly after. Sadly, he died in March 1782, several months after the british surrender at Yorktown, which was the last major battle of the war. Betsy was told of her husband's death by another sailor, John Claypoole, who had also been imprisoned in Old Mill.
The next year, Betsy married John Claypoole and they had 5 daughters, one of whom died. betsy retired in 1827 and moved in with one of her daughters in Abington, PA. She died in 1836.
Although "Ross" was her surname for a brief period, it is by this name she is always known. Her house is a popular stop for visitors to Philadelphia. Many visitors have reported seeing the ghost of Betsy seated by the foot of the basement bed. She appears to be crying. She experienced so much loss in her life, I am not surprised! One guide also reported that while in the basement kitchen, she heard a female voice say , "Pardon Me."
Another source for a basement haunting could be that a gift shop employee was said to be murdered during a robbery years ago.
Although none of these claims have ever been substantiated and neither I nor any other paranormal investigator that has been to the house has ever detected anything paranormal on any visits to this location, apparently GH was desperate enough to investigate based on those claims.
What will they come up with next?
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