Mary Young Pickersgill (1776-1857) was a businesswoman, a humanitarian, a philanthropist, and the head of her household. She was a widow, and a mother, with her own mother to support. She was successful and well known as a flag-maker in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. Most importantly, she was a patriot, and a very brave woman.

        The year is 1813 and the time when Mrs. Pickersgill, at age 29, burst into the history books – never to be forgotten. It was the War of 1812, a war to last from 1812 to 1815.

        Fort McHenry guarded the entrance to Baltimore Harbor and faced almost certain attack by British forces. The American Commander, Major George Armistead, was ready to defend the fort. He wanted a flag that would identify his position and as well be visible to the enemy from a great distance. A group of high-ranking officers called on Mary Young Pickersgill and explained that they wanted a United States flag that measured 30 feet by 42 feet.  She took the job.

        Mrs. Pickersgill called upon her mother, her thirteen-year-old daughter, Caroline, and three nieces, Margaret, Eliza and Jane Young, plus a few others.  Together the women spent several weeks measuring, cutting, and sewing the 15 stars and stripes.

    When the time came to sew the flag together, Mrs. Pickersgill realized that her house was not large enough. She asked the owner of nearby Claggett’s Brewery for permission to assemble the flag on the building’s floor during evening hours. He agreed, and the women worked by candlelight to finish it. She used four hundred yards of wool bunting.

    Once completed, the flag was delivered to Major Armistead. She was paid $544.74 for her work and materials. She, and her helpers, were able to hand sew the flag in just six weeks, and as a little aside, the flag was delivered on August 19, 1813. Mrs. Pickersgill was paid on October 27, 1813 — a mere 69 day wait.

         By the time the British entered Baltimore Harbor in September 1814; they had already captured Washington, D. C., and burned some of the public buildings, including the White House and the Capital. It was the 13th of September, a rainy night, when the British ships began hurling shells toward Fort McHenry.

        This is when the story gets exciting …

        Anxiously awaiting news of the battle’s outcome was a Washington, D. C., lawyer named Francis Scott Key. Mr. Key had visited the British fleet to secure the release of a Maryland doctor, who had been abducted by the British as he left Washington. The two could not leave the ship until the attack ended. Who would win the battle?

        During the night, there had been only occasional sounds of the fort’s guns returning fire. At dawn, the British bombardment tapered off. Had the fort been captured? Mr. Key placed a telescope to his eye and searched for the fort’s flagpole. There he saw the large flag catch the morning breeze.

         Thrilled by the sight of the flag and the knowledge that the fort had not fallen, Key took a piece of paper from his pocket, and began to write verse. Later, after the British fleet withdrew, he checked into a Baltimore hotel, and completed his poem. He then sent it to a printer for duplication on handbills, and within a few days the poem was put to the music of an old English song. Both the new song and the flag became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” That original flag is today on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

         Today I salute Mrs. Pickersgill – a courageous woman whose efforts made Baltimore a more humane society. In later life, she actively addressed social issues such as housing, job placement assistance, and financial aid for disadvantaged women – decades before these issues were prominent concerns in society.

    From 1827 until 1851 she was the president of the Impartial Female Humane Society that helped impoverished families with school vouchers for children and unemployed women plus established a home for elderly women.

        “Oh, say can you see … ?” – Yes, Mrs. Pickersgill, your Star Spangled Banner still catches the morning breeze. Praise God!