the Mary Pickersgill Rose. Concerning Pickersgill's famous flag, In 1998, I. Michael Heyman, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution wrote: Family Pickersgill's uncle, Colonel Benjamin Flower, fought during the American Revolutionary War, and was presented a sword by General George Washington, commander of the Continental Army. The presentation was made for Flower's masterful evacuation of Philadelphia during the British occupation of that city, the first American capital, in late 1776. Of Pickersgill's five siblings, her oldest brother, William Young, was also a flag maker, and it is likely that his two daughters were Pickersgill's nieces that assisted in making the Star Spangled Banner flag. Her sister, Hannah Young, married Captain Jesse Fearson, a privateer ship commander during the War of 1812 who was captured by the British and imprisoned in Havana, Cuba, before later escaping. Pickersgill's one surviving child, Caroline (1800-1884), married John Purdy (1795-1837). The couple apparently had no surviving children, because in a letter written late in her life to the daughter of George Armistead, Purdy called herself "widowed and childless." She had become somewhat destitute late in life, and in the same letter requested some financial assistance, but also provided some history about her mother and the making of the Star-Spangled Banner flag. See also Flags of the United States Brown's Brewery History of Maryland Baltimore History of Baltimore Timeline of Baltimore history References and notes External links Mary Pickersgill Making the Star-Spangled Banner, Robert McGill Mackall's 1976 painting depicting Mary Pickersgill in the brewery sewing the Star-Spangled Banner. (Maryland Historical Society) Smithsonian bio Founding Fathers short bio Smithsonian (Star Spangled Banner back on display Excellent history of the flag The Flag House Origins of Pickersgill Retirement Center Mary Pickersgill house Baltimore City Historical Society Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Association 1776 births 1857 deaths Burials at Loudon Park Cemetery Flags of the United States Maryland in the War of 1812 People from Baltimore People from Philadelphia American people of the War of 1812 People from Maryland in the War of 1812 The Star-Spangled Banner