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Betsy,,,,,, one more time........
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Date Posted: 12:06:15 07/04/09 Sat
In reply to:
Thanks for the History Lesson, Betsy
's message, "Re: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA" on 03:20:18 07/04/09 Sat
Did you know this about me??? I went to a Friends (Quaker) public school. For eight hours a day I was taught reading, writing, and received instruction in a trade — sewing. After completing my schooling, my father apprenticed me to a local upholsterer. Upholsterers primarily were sofa-makers and such, but in colonial times they performed all manner of sewing jobs, including flag-making. It was at this job that I fell in love with another apprentice, John Ross, who was the son of an Episcopal assistant rector at Christ Church, who was not a Quaker.
Quakers frowned on inter-denominational marriages. The penalty for such unions was severe — the guilty party being "read out" of the Quaker meeting house. Getting "read out" meant being cut off emotionally and economically from both family and meeting house. One's entire history and community would be instantly dissolved. On a November night in 1773, I eloped with John Ross. We ferried across the Delaware River to Hugg's Tavern and were married in New Jersey. The wedding caused an irrevocable split from my family. [It is an interesting parallel to note that on our wedding certificate is the name of New Jersey's Governor, William Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's son. Three years later William would have an irrevocable split with his father because he was a Loyalist against the cause of the Revolution.]
Less than two years after our nuptials, we started our own upholstery business. Our decision was a bold one as competition was tough and we could not count on my Quaker circle for business. As I was "read out" of the Quaker community, on Sundays one could now find me at Christ Church sitting in pew 12 with my husband. Some Sundays would find George Washington, America's new commander in chief, sitting in an adjacent pew........
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