PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Betsy Ross’ original sewing table is going on display at the historic Betsy Ross House in Old City, just in time for this summer’s celebrations of 250 years of independence.
The table is a donation from one of Ross’ descendants, Eric Conrad. He inherited it from his mother after she died.
“The Betsy Ross sewing table has been part of my life since I was very, very young,” he said. “It came to my hometown back in the 1860s when Betsy Ross’ granddaughter, Katherine Canby, married into my family.”
That family moved into a farmhouse in Colora, Maryland, not far from the Pennsylvania border in Chester County.
“The table had been in that farmhouse from the 1860s up until probably almost the year 2000, and then my mom was given the table by my great-uncle,” Conrad explained.
He decided to donate it to the Betsy Ross House because of the care historians there have put into her legacy.
Holli Stephens/KYW Newsradio, file
“I had offers at other places soon after I had possession of the table, but they were never really a consideration because … Betsy is buried here, John Claypool, who is my ancestor, is buried here, and so it should be here,” he said.
“She had to do her business with the British walking around the city streets here,” Conrad added of her legacy. “She was making flags in her bedroom because if she got caught, that’d be treason; she could be hanged, just like any of the founding fathers.”
The historic society is restoring a drawer and a crack in the surface before the table goes on display. The drawer had to be replaced because when Ross was older and visited her daughters’ homes, Conrad said she would take the drawer with her; it was filled with different pins, threads and other supplies she needed as a working craftswoman.
The sewing table will be officially unveiled during a ceremony on Flag Day, June 14.
