A Revolutionary Religion / Betsy Ross / Arch Street Meeting House

The Religious Society of Friends emerged during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, when Quakers broke away from the Church of England and faced harsh persecution, leading many from across Europe to immigrate to America in search of religious freedom, equality, and opportunity. In the American colonies, Quakers disagreed especially over the American Revolutionary War: some remained committed to the Quaker Peace Testimony and non-violence, while others who supported and participated in the war were expelled, or read out of meeting, for failing to remain neutral. In 1781, those expelled for supporting the Revolutionary War established the Religious Society of Free Quakers and worshipped at the Free Quaker Meeting House at Arch and Fifth Streets. Notable Free Quakers included Samuel Nicholas, Lydia Darragh, Benjamin Say, and Betsy Ross, and Nicholas, Darragh, and Say are buried at Arch Street. Betsy Ross, born Elizabeth Griscom in 1752, was raised a Quaker but was expelled from this worship community for marrying John Ross, a non-Quaker and supporter of the Revolutionary War. She and John Ross attended Christ Church, and after his death she married Joseph Ashburn at Old Swede's Lutheran Church; only later in life did she join the Free Quakers. Though best remembered for her flag, her life as an upholsterer, business owner, property holder, widow, and single mother, along with her complex relationship with her faith, reflects the richer history of Quakerism in America.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States