Uncle Sam. It’s a name synonymous with the United States government, a universally recognized figure in a star-spangled top hat pointing an officious finger declaring “I want you for U.S. Army.”
For many, that’s all Uncle Sam is. Few know more that the figure of Uncle Sam is based on an actual person.
During Old Home Day this weekend, the Mason Historical Society marked the birthday of Uncle Sam – actually Samuel Wilson – who was born on Aug. 13, 1766.
So, how did Samuel Wilson, who spent his teenage years growing up in Mason, become a figure for his young country?
Wilson came to Mason at the age of 14 with his parents and siblings. It was there that he met his wife, Betsey Mann, whose father, Captain Benjamin Mann built the Mann House – now home to the town offices and library.
The house where Wilson lived in Mason still stands, still in use as a private residence and tagged with a historical marker on Valley Road.
It was not until later in life, after he and Betsey had moved to Troy, New York, that he earned the moniker “Uncle Sam” – referred to as such by his many employees in the meat packing industry.
So, when Wilson gained a contract to supply beef pork to the United States Army, and it arrived stamped with the initials “U.S.” – short, of course for “United States,” – and “E.A.” – standing for the name Elbert Anderson, the supplier the meat was being delivered to. When someone asked the significance of the U.S. initials, Wilson’s foreman Jonas Gleason was quick to joke that is stood for “Uncle Sam.”
The joke spread, and soon enough, it was common to refer to the beef as coming from “Uncle Sam” – which quickly came to mean that it came from the government.
Wilson himself seemed not to mind he joke or the evolution of it into a representation of his country – and indeed was often invited to address audiences, ride in parades, and named honorary officer at numberous clubs because of it.
And though the figure with the tophat, blue coat and red and white striped pants is who we’ve come to know as Uncle Sam, particularly through his depictions on various in various propaganda posters – most famously the depiction by James Montgomery Flagg in 1917.
However, people may be surprised to learn that actually, Wilson was clean shaven, without the distinctive white goatee shown in Flagg’s cartoons. In fact, the cartoon Uncle Sam actually more resembles a stylized self-portrait of Flagg as an old man, rather than a true reflection of Samuel Wilson.