James Madison Chapter Tnssar

As Flag day is June 14th, it is interesting to note historically that President Wilson, in 1916, and President Coolidge, in 1927, issued proclamations asking for June 14 to be observed as the National Flag Day. Though it wasn't until August 3, 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law.
In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The Flag Resolution, passed on June 14, 1777, stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." This design was created by Francis Hopkinson, a Continental Congressman from New Jersey and a consultant to the design of the Great Seal of the United States
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; on August 3, 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. Flag Day is not an official federal holiday. Title 36 of the United States Code, Subtitle I, Part A, CHAPTER 1, § 110 is the official statute on Flag Day; however, it is at the president's discretion to officially proclaim the observance. On June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday, beginning in the town of Rennerdale. New York Statutes designate the second Sunday in June as Flag Day, a state holiday.

At the time of the Boston Tea Party, many American colonists were furious over “taxation without representation,” especially after Britain passed the Tea Act, which maintained a tax on tea sold in the colonies.

When 3 tea ships arrived in Boston Harbor, protesters demanded the cargo be sent back to England. After colonial leaders were ignored, a group of men, many disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded the ships on the night of December 16, 1773.

Sprague (who was only 19 at the time) was among the protesters who boarded the Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver and dumped 342 chests of British tea (equivalent to $2.3 million today) into Boston Harbor.

Sprague served during the American Revolutionary War and spent much of his life working as a laborer and craftsman. By the mid 19th century, he had become something of a historical curiosity because he personally remembered major Revolutionary era events that by then already seemed very distant to most Americans.

He lived into his 90s and passed away in 1843. In his later years, newspapers and historians often interviewed him as one of the last surviving participants of the Boston Tea Party, making him a direct living connection to the founding generation of the United States.

Grave Marking Ceremony honoring Patriot George Ross is scheduled for Monday, May 25, 2026 (Memorial Day) at Shiloh National Military Park Cemetery. Start time is 1:00pm.