Ann Jennings Johnson

Ann Jennings Johnson (May 8, 1745 – November 22, 1794) was the inaugural First Lady of Maryland and wife of the first non-colonial Governor of Maryland, Thomas Johnson.[1][2]

Ann Jennings Johnson
Portrait of Ann Jennings Johnson
by John Hesselius.
Born
Ann Jennings

May 8, 1745
Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.
DiedNovember 22, 1794 (aged 49)
Frederick, Maryland, U.S.
Spouse
​
(m. 1766)​
Children8

Early life and family

Ann Jennings was born on May 8, 1745,[3] the daughter of Rebecca Sauders Jennings and Judge Thomas Jennings, chief clerk of the Maryland Register of Land Office.[4] Her mother was the daughter of Robert Sauders, and her father was the son of the Reverend Henry Jennings of St. Marys County, Maryland.[5]

Ann grew up in Annapolis, Maryland in an Episcopal upbringing. Her family attended St. Anne's Parish in Annapolis. In the 1760s, she met Thomas Johnson who was a young man recently employed as an apprentice at the land office where her father worked.[6]

Ann and Thomas wed on February 16, 1766, enjoyed a happy marriage,[7][8] and had eight children, including one who died in infancy and a second who died as a young adult.[6][9]

First Lady

After serving as an Anne Arundel County Delegate to the Provincial Assembly and as a Congressman in two Continental Congresses, Thomas Johnson was elected by the legislature as the first governor of Maryland in 1777. With her husband's new position, Ann became the inaugural First Lady in Maryland's history.[10][11] Ann was in the role of First Lady throughout her husband's governorship from 1777 to 1779.[12] During this period and throughout her husband's political career, Ann was a prominent and influential figure in Annapolis society.[13]

Later life and death
Gravesite at Mount Olivet Cemetery

After Thomas' tenure as governor, the family moved to the newly built Richfield Estate in Frederick, Maryland. Ann continued to support her husband's public service as a member of the Maryland General Assembly and Maryland Senate, Commissioner of the District of Columbia, and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States between 1779 and 1793.[14]

Ann Jennings Johnson died on November 22, 1794, at the age of 49 after a period of illness, and only a few months after her husband's retirement from public service. She was buried at All Saints' Episcopal Church and her remains (along with her husband's) were moved to a new family monument at Mount Olivet Cemetery in 1913.[15]

References
  1. "Ann Jennings Johnson, MSA SC 3520-2228". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  2. Epstein, Lee; Segal, Jeffrey A.; Spaeth, Harold J.; Walker, Thomas G. (2015-07-28). The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments. CQ Press. ISBN 978-1-4833-7661-5.
  3. Maryland State Archives SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (St. Anne's Church Records Collection) Parish Register, 1708-1785: May 8, 1745 [MSA SC 15] M143
  4. Warfield, Joshua Dorsey (1905). The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland: A Genealogical and Biographical Review from Wills, Deeds and Church Records. Kohn & Pollock. p. 225.
  5. McIntire, Robert Harry. Annapolis Maryland Families: Volume I. (Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc., 1979), 365.
  6. Delaplaine, Edward S. The Life of Thomas Johnson (New York: The Grafton Press, 1927).
  7. White, Frank F., Jr. The Governors of Maryland: 1777-1970 (Annapolis: The Hall of Records Commission, 1970), 3.
  8. Cushman, Clare (2012-07-26). The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–2012. CQ Press. ISBN 978-1-4522-3534-9.
  9. Hanson, George Adolphus (1876). Old Kent: The Eastern Shore of Maryland ; Notes Illustrative of the Most Ancient Records of Kent County, Maryland, and of the Parishes of St. Paul's, Shrewsbury and I.U. and Genealogical Histories of Old and Distinguished Families of Maryland, and Their Connections by Marriage, &c., with an Introduction. John P. Des Forges. p. 53.
  10. Watson, Robert P. (2002). American First Ladies. Salem Press. ISBN 978-0-89356-070-6.
  11. "First Ladies and Official Hostesses Project". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  12. "Ann Jennings Johnson – History's Women". Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  13. Green, Harry Clinton; Green, Mary Wolcott (1912). The Pioneer Mothers of America: A Record of the More Notable Women of the Early Days of the Country, and Particularly of the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods. G. P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 314–315. ISBN 9780722284261.
  14. Luckett, Margie Hersh (1931). Maryland Women: Baltimore, Maryland, 1931-1942. King bros., Incorporated, Press.
  15. "Ann Jennings Johnson, MSA SC 3520-2228, Maryland State Archives". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
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