BETSY ROSS (1919)

Betsy Griscome, against the wishes of her Quaker parents, keeps a tryst with a British officer, Clarence Vernon, who promises to marry her upon his return. Clarissa, her sister, falls in love and marries Joseph Ashburn, a trader. Suspecting Vernon of duplicity, Joseph and Vernon fight a duel and Vernon is struck down. A year later Betsy marries John Ross, and upon his death she operates a little shop for a living. Here she shields her sister, who was driven from home when she could not produce her marriage certificate. Betsy is commissioned by General Washington to make the first American flag and later is accused of harboring a spy - in reality, her sister's husband. The film ends happily when all relations are explained.