Luxury Real Estate

By Yvonne Harvey

Since we made the announcement that we are having this year’s 13th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference in Philadelphia, I have become almost obsessed with Philadelphia’s history. In past blogs, we have discussed Rocky Balboa’s historic run up the stairs of the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Liberty Bell typo.

Well of course I had to talk about a young woman named Betsy Ross. We all know that she was the seamstress of the very first United States flag, but do we really know Betsy Ross as a person? She gained historical relevance from just one snapshot of her life, and yet I felt she was much more than just a seamstress. She was an extremely strong woman, and the epitome of a woman living in the eighteen and nineteenth centuries.
 

Betsy was the eighth of seventeen children and was raised in a Quaker community. Her first marriage to John Ross in 1773 caused a split with her family and meant her expulsion from the Quaker congregation since she married outside of her sect. She was only married to John Ross less then 3 years when he was killed by a military explosion. She went on to marry twice more and both of them died relatively young. She had a total of seven children, two of which died very young.

Even in death, Betsy would not rest in peace. Betsy was buried on the Free Quaker burial ground on South 5th Street. Twenty years later, her remains were exhumed and reburied in the Mt. Moriah Cemetery in the Cobbs Creek Park section in Philadelphia. In preparation for the United States Bicentennial, the city ordered her remains moved to the courtyard of the Betsy Ross House in 1975; however, workers found no remains under her tombstone. Bones found elsewhere in the family plot were deemed to be hers and were re-interred in the current grave visited by tourists at the Betsy Ross House today.

It is rare to have people today to have a smidgen of the hardships women of the 1700s and 1800s had, and Betsy Ross endured them all. This blog is not to make you sad, but to make you feel thankful and blessed for your family’s and friends’ health and see the strength of women such as Betsy Ross. Can you imagine what people will say in 200 years about how we lived and how we persevered?


Editor’s Note:
As she mentioned, Yvonne Harvey is the Events Coordinator for LuxuryRealEstate.com. So when you come and enjoy the wonderful presentations, discussions and networking opportunities at Luxury Real Estate conferences, you know who to thank. You should definitely join us at the 13th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference on October 13-15, 2008. I enjoy studying history because it is through the sacrifices and experiences of past generations that current ones have been brought to pass. Plus, I try to learn from others’ experiences. Betsy Ross is a wonderful example of perseverance and nobility. Thank you for the great blog entry, Yvonne! The painting above is from www.ushistory.org/betsy/flaglife.html.