During the War of 1812, while Johnny is planting apple trees across Ohio and Indiana, Sam and Betsey are supplying the American army with beef in Troy, New York. America is not often referred to as the “United States” during these years, so when Sam marks barrels of army meat with a big “U.S.,” not everyone is sure what it means.
When a federal inspector asks a watchman why “U.S.” is marked on the barrels, the watchman makes a guess, “I think it means Uncle Sam.”
When a federal inspector asks a watchman why “U.S.” is marked on the barrels, the watchman makes a guess, “I think it means Uncle Sam.”
Forty years later, The New York Lantern publishes the first drawing of “Uncle Sam,” the invisible benefactor who had become every soldier’s best friend. On September 15, 1961, the 87th Congress of the United States adopts the following Resolution: “Resolved by the Senate with the House of Representatives concurring, the Congress salutes “Uncle Sam” Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of America’s national symbol of “Uncle Sam.”
Johnny Appleseed and Uncle Sam. Just a couple of kids who met one summer on a farm outside Mason, New Hampshire.
Just a couple of kids like you and me.