Ann Thompson Gerry (; August 12, 1763 – March 17, 1849) was the wife of

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Elbridge Gerry Elbridge Gerry (; July 17, 1744 – November 23, 1814) was an American Founding Father, merchant, politician, and diplomat who served as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1 ...

, thus the

second lady of the United States The second gentleman or second lady of the United States (SGOTUS or SLOTUS respectively) is the informal title held by the spouse of the vice president of the United States, concurrent with the vice president's term of office. Coined in contrast ...

from 1813 to 1814.

Life

Ann Thompson was the daughter of James Thompson (1727–1812) a wealthy Irishman who made his fortune in the merchant trade, and Catharine (Walton) Thompson, daughter of a wealthy New Yorker. By 1750, Thompson's business was based in New York City, where Ann was born in 1763. She was educated in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, while her older brothers were educated in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and eventually joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

. Upon completion of her education in the mid-1780s she returned to New York, where some called her "the most beautiful woman in the United States".Billias, George. ''Elbridge Gerry'', p. 147 There she caught the eye of

, a

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends into the northern part of Massachusetts Bay. Attache ...

politician twenty years her elder who was serving in the Confederation Congress. Their romance was apparently well underway by late 1785, and they were married on January 12, 1786, at New York's Trinity Church. The couple had ten children between 1787 and 1801 (three died young). Her husband was frequently concerned over her health, but was also frequently away. The family finances were troubled in the later years of her husband's life; debts that his brother had incurred and Gerry had guaranteed were only paid off from the salary he received as

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

between 1812 and his death in 1814, leaving the widow with an estate that was rich in land and poor in cash. Massachusetts Senator

Christopher Gore Christopher Gore (September 21, 1758 – March 1, 1827) was a prominent Massachusetts lawyer, Federalist politician, and U.S. diplomat. Born into a family divided by the American Revolution, Gore sided with the victorious Patriots, establi ...

proposed that the vice presidential salary would be paid to her for the rest of her life, but Congress rejected the idea because it might set a precedent for such payments. She was thereafter supported by her children, living with her son, James Thompson Gerry, the commander of the USS ''Albany'', and at least two of her daughters at 17 Temple Court, in New Haven. She died in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

on March 17, 1849. She was buried in New Haven's Grove Street Cemetery.''Chapter Sketches: Connecticut DAR''
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References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerry, Ann 1763 births 1849 deaths American people of Irish descent Burials in Connecticut First Ladies and Gentlemen of Massachusetts People from New York City Second Ladies of the United States 19th-century American women