The man who became ‘Uncle Sam’
I grew up in the “Tri-cities” area in New York – Albany, Schenectady and Troy – and when entering Troy there was a sign that said. “Troy, N.Y. – The Home of Uncle Sam.”
“Uncle Sam” was Samuel Wilson, who with his brother Ebeneezer moved to Troy in the late 1780s because Troy was located on the Hudson River, then the greatest commercial waterway in upstate New York. The Wilson brothers hoped to locate a business close to it so their products could be easily shipped to markets nationwide.
The business they eventually started was a meatpacking business, E & S Wilson Co., an activity Sam Wilson had been engaged in during the American Revolution when he was charged with slaughtering and packaging meat for the army, as well as inspecting it to ensure that it hadn’t spoiled or that British agents hadn’t poisoned it (a common wartime practice).
And then, in 1812, the United States again went to war against Britain, meaning U.S. troops again needed to be fed in large numbers, so Secretary of War William Eustis contracted with a prominent New York merchant, Elbert Anderson, to supply all rations for New York soldiers fighting in the War of 1812. Anderson put out bids, and E & S Wilson was awarded a contract to supply 5,000 barrels of beef and pork annually. That meat also required inspection for quality, which became Sam Wilson’s responsibility, and each barrel was to be labeled showing it had passed inspection.
Wilson labeled the barrels “E.A. – U.S.,” meaning “Elbert Anderson, United States,” but much of the meat was consumed by soldiers camped in nearby Greenbush, N.Y., many of whom were Troy natives who knew Sam Wilson had produced the meat. So they began referring to the “U.S.” stamp as “Uncle Sam.” A local paper picked up the story, it spread nationwide, and soon “Uncle Sam” became the nickname of the federal government.
Uncle Sam’s fame spread even further thanks to James Montgomery Flagg, an artist who depicted him as an imposing figure with a star-studded top hat, blue coat, white shirt and red bowtie. Used as a poster to recruit soldiers in World War I, it shows Uncle Sam pointing a finger at the reader and saying, “I Want You For The U.S. Army.” It is the most famous recruiting poster in U.S. military history.
Sam Wilson died this week (July 31) in 1854 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Troy. In his honor, in 1961 Congress adopted a resolution that says, “Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives that the Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of America’s National symbol of Uncle Sam.”