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The 1785 MacPherson [Taken from George Canby's copy of the 1785 MacPherson directory. In 1785 Arch Street was alternately known as Mulberry Street.] and the 1791 Biddle directory list the following entries for the site between Second and Fourth Streets on Arch.

1785 MacPherson
Midway between 3rd & 4th north side of Arch
324 - Heysham, William
325 - Wilcox, Alexander
326 - Bushell, John
327 - Ashburn, Leslie
328 - no entry
Third Street
329 - Dorsey, Leonard
330 - no entry
331 - Gardin, John
332 - Buchard, Andrew
333 - Cummins, Neil
334 - Germon, John
335 - Claypoole, John
336 - Ford Widow
337 - No entry
338 - Harvey, Sampson
339 - Sellers, William
340 - No entry
341 - No entry
342 - Benton Widow
343 - No entry
344 - Owen, George
345 - Crysler, Jacob
___________________________
1791 Biddle
Midway between 3rd & 4th north side of Arch
107 - William Heysham
105 - Alexander Wilcocks
103 - John Gibbons
101 - Lesley H. Eastburn
Third Street
99 - William Ashby
97 - James Wilson
95 - William Niles
93 - Jonathan Worrell
91 - Frederick Wing
89 - Thomas Carmalt
87 - Mary Smith
85 - William Montgomery
83 - William Sellers
81 - Joshua Howell
79 - Ann Vaux
77 - Joseph B. McKean, Esq.
75 - James Lewis
73 - Georqe Gideon
71 - Jacob Christler

Comparison of these lists shows that several occupants remained in the same location between 1785 and 1791. William Heysham appears in both lists at 324 Arch Street in 1785 and, in 1791, 107 Arch. Lesley Ashburn, listed at 327 Arch in the 1784 directory, no doubt corresponds with Lesley Eastburn at 101 Arch in the 1791 directory. Alexander Wilcox is listed at 325 Arch in the 1783 and Alexander Wilcocks is listed at 105 Arch in 1791. Similarly, William Sellers, at 339 Arch in the 1785 directory, appears in the 1791 directory at 83 Arch.

The best candidate for fixing the 1791 number of 335 Arch is William Sellers, as he is the closest to that location. Between 339 Arch and 335 Arch in 1785 are four locations. Counting four locations westward from the Sellers site, 83 Arch, in 1791, one arrives at 91 Arch Street. It is reasonably certain, moreover, that Sellers remained in the same location between 1785 and 1791. The census report of Philadelphia head of families [Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.] shows that in 1790 William Sellers lived between Joshua Howell and William Montgomery, as he did in 1791. The 1790 census date was no doubt compiled between 1789 and 1790. This comparison of the 1791 and 1785 directories, therefore, places the site that Betsy Ross occupied in 1785, at 91 Arch Street under the 1791 directory. This site was renumbered 241 Arch under the system used today; 241 Arch Street is presently the garden of the Betsy Ross House.

This conclusion must be treated with some caution, however. There is no certainty that the number of houses between numbers 339 Arch and 335 Arch in 1785 is the same number of houses between 83 Arch and 91 Arch in 1791. The MacPherson directory is extremely imprecise. MacPherson not only assigned numbers to houses but to stables and outhouses as well. In addition, he made provisions for "the numbers of houses that probably will be built upon improved lots within the boundaries." [emphasis supplied]. The possibility remains, therefore, that number "335 Arch" of 1785 corresponds with a location to the immediate east or west of 91 Arch (today 241 Arch) including 89 Arch Street (239 Arch Street today). It is also possible, as Rachael Fletcher indicated in her 1871 statement, that Betsy Ross lived at more than one location on Arch Street — perhaps occupying both 91 and 89 Arch Street (241 and 239 Arch Streets, respectively, today).

The system of finding an individual who remained in the same location between 1785 and 1791 has been used by others to show that the Claypoole site at 335 Arch corresponds with 83 Arch Street in 1791, subsequently 233 Arch. One historian [Joseph Jackson, see earlier] chose Alexander Wilcox as the stationary figure. Wilcox is listed at 325 Arch in the 1785 directory and at 105 Arch in the 1791 directory. This historian counted ten locations between 325 and 335, the Claypoole site, in 1785. He then counted ten locations from 105 Arch in the 1791 directory and, apparently skipping number 87, arrived at number 83. However, number 83 in 1791 quite clearly corresponds with number 339 Arch, not 335 Arch, in 1785. This can be established by noting that, as discussed above, William Sellers, occupant of number 339 in 1785, remained at the same location in 1791. The listing for Sellers in 1791 is 83 Arch Street. Therefore, that writer must be in error. Moreover, because MacPherson's directory was overinclusive, it is unlikely that the number of listed locations between 325 and 335 Arch, a distance that crosses Third Street, would remain the same in the 1791 directory; it is more likely that the number of locations listed in the 1791 directory, which did not include stables, outhouses and prosppective buildings, decreased.

This analysis undermines the contention that Betsy Ross occupied the house located at 221 Arch Street. [See North American, December 1899, see above.] With little more to support it than an affidavit by an individual in 1899 stating that in 1876 "everyone knew that the Betsy Ross house was at number 221," this theory places the Claypoole site far to the east of the location indicated by the 1785 and 1791 directories. Moreover, if one examines the city directories and attempts to find the 1785 location of what is now 221 Arch Street the contention can be disproved. Number 221 Arch Street of today corresponds not with number 335 Arch Street (the Claypoole listing) of 1785 but with number 345. Number 221 Arch corresponds with number 71 Arch of 1791. In the Biddle directory of that year, the listing for 71 Arch is:

"Jacob Christler, Shopkeeper"

The 1785 directory shows at 345 Arch:

"Jacob Crysler"

One can confirm the identity of "Jacob Crysler" with "Jacob Christler" through an analysis similar to that used above in determining the 1791 number of 335 Arch Street. 83 Arch Street in 1791, the residence of William Sellers, corresponds with 339 Arch in 1785. There are six locations between 83 Arch and 71 Arch, the residence of Jacob Christler. Counting six locations eastward from the 1785 equivalent to 83 Arch — 339 Arch — one arrives at 345 Arch, the residence of Jacob Crysler. Number 221 Arch Street was owned and occupied by the Christler family from June 8, 1761 until December 2, 1826. 221 Arch Street, therefore, was not the 1785 residence of the Claypooles who occupied 335 Arch, but of Jacob Chrysler, who occupied 345 Arch.

The contemporary historical evidence, therefore, shows that the Claypoole residence of 1785, "335 Arch Street," is now located at either 239 Arch Street or 241 Arch Street. It becomes clear when the search of directories, the affidavits and other evidence has been analyzed that no evidence exists which belies the conclusion that the site of the Betsy Ross House is the location where Betsy Ross lived when she made the first flag of the United States.