Mary Young Pickersgill - Early Life

Early Life

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 12, 1776, Mary Young was the youngest of six children born to William Young and Rebecca Flower. Her mother, who became widowed when Mary was two years old, had a flag shop on Walnut Street in Philadelphia where she made ensigns, garrison flags and "Continental Colors" for the Continental Army. Her 1781 advertisement in the Pennsylvania Packet read, "All kinds of colours, for the Army and Navy, made and sold on the most reasonable Terms, By Rebecca Young." Young moved her family to Baltimore, Maryland when Mary was a child, and it was from her mother that Mary learned the craft of flag making.

On October 2, 1795, at the age of 19, Mary married John Pickersgill, a merchant, and moved back to Philadelphia with her husband. Of Mary's four children, only one survived childhood, a daughter named Caroline. Mary's husband traveled to London to work for the United States Government in the British Claims Office, but died in London on June 14, 1805, leaving Mary widowed at the age of 29. In 1807 Mary then moved back to Baltimore with her daughter Caroline and her 67 year old mother Rebecca.

The small family rented a house at 44 Queen Street (later 844 E. Pratt Street, which became the Star Spangled Banner Flag House and 1812 Museum), where Pickersgill took in boarders and opened a flag-making business, selling "silk standards, cavalry and division colours of every description." Her customers included the United States Army, United States Navy, and visiting merchant ships.