Ann Emerson

Details about Ann Emerson’s birth and early life are currently unknown. She married Captain Emerson, (first name unknown) and had three children. She was listed as a widow living in Philadelphia in the 1790 Census.¹ 

President George Washington hired Ann in 1791 as a housekeeper for the President’s House in Philadelphia. She came at the recommendation of a Philadelphia merchant named Henry Hill. She worked in Hill’s household prior to her marriage. Washington’s private secretary, Tobias Lear wrote: “As she was not left in circumstances to to support herself & 3 Children without some employment, she has, through Mr Hill, made an application for the place of House keeper in this family. Mr. Hill recommends her in the warmest terms for honesty, industry & excellent management in a family.”² Ann earned £33.33 each quarter.³ She worked closely with the steward, Samuel Fraunces, and Tobias Lear was very complimentary of her service, writing in a letter to Washington: “Our family affairs seem to go on pretty smoothly under the administration of Fraunces & Mrs. Emerson.”⁴ It is unclear when she left Washington’s household, but she no longer appears in household accounts after 1795.⁵

No additional information has been found about her life after working in the President’s House.