This article includes a list of general references , but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations . Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. ( April 2010 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message )

Rebecca Franks (1760 ? September 1823) was a prominent member of loyalist society in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania during the American Revolution .

Life [ edit ]

Rebecca Franks was born in Pennsylvania about 1760, the daughter and youngest child of David Franks , a businessman, and the sister of Abigail (1745?1798), the wife of Andrew Hamilton (son of the noted attorney of the same name and proprietor of " The Woodlands "), and the niece of Phila Franks, who married Oliver De Lancey an American loyalist politician and a major general during the American War of Independence . She was the granddaughter of Abigail Franks , who wrote about the social, political, and religious milieu of 18th-century New York in a series of letters to her son in England between the years 1733 and 1748. ^[1]

During the War of Independence, she, like her father, sided with Great Britain , and during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1778 she took part in the " Mischianza ," a celebrated, elaborate fete given in honor of departing British General Sir William Howe , and at which Major John Andre presided. "The Times, a Poem by Camilio Querno, Poet Laureate of the Congress," a loyalist composition, has been attributed to her. Her literary ability, as well as her vivacity and wit, were well known; she carried on a correspondence with prominent men, and General Charles Lee of the Continental Army addressed to her a letter that attracted much attention, being published in the magazines of the day.

In 1782 in New York, she married Lieutenant-Colonel (later General) Henry Johnson , of the 17th Regiment of Foot , and moved to Bath , England. Johnson distinguished himself by an act of gallantry in one of the outbreaks of rebellion in Ireland , and received the honor of a baronetcy, whereupon Rebecca became Lady Johnson. They had two sons, one of whom was killed at the Battle of Waterloo . She remained in Bath until her death in September 1823.

References [ edit ]

Sources [ edit ]

• Elizabeth F. Ellet, The Women of the American Revolution , Third Edition. New York: Baker and Scribner, 1849.
• Abigail Franks , Edith Belle Gelles, The Letters of Abigaill Levy Franks, 1733?1748 published 2004, Yale University Press, ISBN   0-300-10345-X
• George Washington's Expense Account , by Gen. George Washington and Marvin Kitman , Published 2001, Grove Press, ISBN   0-8021-3773-3

External links [ edit ]

• Article at AmericanRevolution.org