Betty Ross and the first flag ------- America's greatest myth?

                 Throughout my youth in the 1930s and early '40s, children would often sing a little patriotic song we had learned in school.
                 Commonly referred to as "Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue" and sung to the tune of "Oh, Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," it supposedly told the story of how the first American flag was created for Gen. George Washington by a 24-year-old Philadelphia seamstress named Betsy Ross.
                 While it's been many years since I've heard it sung, it apparently made a major impression on me as I still remember its words.
                 Betsy Ross lived on Arch Street near Second,
                Her sewing was very, very fine.
               General Washington came down to see her,
               To order a brand new flag.
               Six white stripes and seven pretty red ones.
               Thirteen white stars upon a field of blue;
               Twas the first flag our country ever floated,
               Three cheers for the red, white and blue.
               Today, that house in downtown Philadelphia described in the song as being on Arch Street near Second is known as the Betsy Ross House.
               After Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, it's the third-most -popular stop for tourists in the historic section of the city, with hundreds of thousands of visitors flocking to it every year.  Its official website states : "The Betsy Ross House, the birthplace of the American flag."
               And that house isn't the only memorial to Ross.
              On Jan. 1, 1952, the U.S. Post Office issued a stamp to honor the 200th anniversary of Ross' birth.  It shows her presenting the new American flag to Washington, Robert Morris and George Ross.
              In 1976, the Betsy Ross Bridge was opened connecting the city of Philadelphia with Pennsauken, N.J.   It's one of only two major bridges in the U.S. named for a woman.
             But is the story of Betsy Ross and her creation of the first American flag historical fact?
             Many historians don't think so.  Some of them seem to put it in the same category as the legend of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree.
             Betsy Ross was born in Philadelphia on Jan. 1, 1752, the eight of 17 children of Samuel Griscom and Rebecc James Griscom.
             Raised in a home dominated by the plain dress and strict discipline of the Society of Friends (Quakers), she was apprenticed to a local upholsterer where, at age 21, she met, fell in love with and eloped with fellow apprentice John Ross.
            Two years after their marriage, and shortlyafter the outbreak of war, he joined a local militia and was reportedly killed by a munitions explosion.
           While it's well documented that Betsy would outlive two more husbands, the tale of her creating the first flag didn't even surface until nearly a full century after the supposed event and almost 40 years after her death in 1836.
           It came to the forefront as Philadelphians were making plans for the 1876 Centennial Exposition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
          A couple of years earlier, Ross' grandson, William J. Canby, had presented a paper to the Pennsylvania Historical Society.  In it, he claimed his grandmother had been visited by Gen. George Washington in the spring of 1776 and, at Washington's request, she had sewn together the first American flag.
          Canby's only evidence was a story he claimed was told to him by his aunt, Clarissa Sydney (Claypoole) Wilson, in 1857, 20 years earlier, and long after Ross had died.  Canby had then estimated the date of Washington's visit to Ross based only on information he researched that the general had traveled to Philadelphia in the spring of 1776.
          In the 2008 book "The Star-Spangled Banner: The Making of an American Icon," writers from the Smithsonian Institution stress that Canby's description of the event appealed to Americans about to celebrate their country's 100th birthday and eager for stories about the American Revolution and its heroes and heroines.
          As a result, Betsy Ross was the perfect patriotic role model for women and a symbol of female contributions to American history.
          And with no one seemingly willing to check out the story in detail, it was accepted as historical fact by most Americans.
          Over the succeeding decades, children read it in their history books and few questioned its accuracy.
          Even the painting that was used in the 1952 commemorative postage stamp of Ross sitting in her Philadelphia parlor, with the sun beaming down on the flag in her lap, was an invention of Charles H. Weisgerber, an artist and entrepreneur who exploited the Betsy Ross flag story.
          There is ample documentation that Ross repaired uniforms and made tents and blankets for the Continental Army, and throughout her life (she lived to be 84), she was one of many Philadelphia women who sewed flags ------- among them, a number of Pennsylvania naval flags.
          Yet there is no credible historical or archival evidence ----- letters, diaries, newspaper accounts or bills of sale ---- that she either made or even helped design the first American flag.
           Even the claim that Ross lived in the house on Arch Street that now bears her name has been called into question.  There is no documentation to prove it, and since house numbers were not used in Philadelphia before 1857, it's virtually impossible to identify the specific location of her house.
           On June 14, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ------ who held a Ph.D. in history and political science ------- while presiding at a ceremony on our first national Flag Day, responded to a question on the accuracy of the Betsy Ross story with the simple statement: "Would that it were true."
           For all the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Betsy Ross House each year ----- many of them youngsters ---- who are so inspired by the tale of the patriotic young seamstress, Wilson's words are worth repeating.
           "Would that it were true."