Ann Smith Franklin (October 2, 1696 – April 16, 1763) was an American colonial newspaper printer and publisher. She inherited the business from her husband, James Franklin, brother of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. She published the '' Newport Mercury'', printed an

almanac An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasting, weather forecasts, farmers' sowing, planting dates ...

series, and printed Rhode Island paper currency. She was the country’s first female newspaper editor, the first woman to write an almanac, and the first woman inducted into the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Ann Smith Franklin was married to James Franklin, a printer and the brother of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. They had five children including daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and son James Jr. (c.1730–1762). James Jr. attended Philadelphia Academy with his cousin William, Benjamin's son, before James Jr. was apprenticed in the printing trade to his uncle Benjamin. After a long illness, James died in Newport in 1735, leaving Ann a widow, aged 39, with three young children to support, one child having died earlier.

Career

In 1736, Ann petitioned the General Assembly of Rhode Island, seeking printing work in order to support her family. She was awarded the contract, becoming the General Assembly's official printer to the colony, a position she held until she died. In this official capacity, she printed the colony's charter granted by

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

. To supplement her income, she printed

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

s for ministers,

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

s for

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

s, as well as popular

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s. Ann's most notable work was compiling and publishing five editions of the ''Rhode Island Almanack'', for the years 1737–1741. In 1741, she began selling her brother-in-law Benjamin's almanac, ''

Poor Richard's Almanack ''Poor Richard's Almanack'' (sometimes ''Almanac'') was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of "Poor Richard" or "Richard Saunders" for this purpose. The publication appeared continually from 1732 to 1758. ...

'', and in 1745, she printed 500 copies of the ''Acts and Laws of Rhode Island'' as a

folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

edition, her largest commission. Though a second child died young, Mary, Elizabeth and James Jr. worked in the family business. The daughters performed typesetting while James Jr. ran the business, now called "Ann and James Franklin", with his mother. During this time, however, some of Ann's imprints continued to bear the name "Widow Franklin". In 1758, they published ''The Newport Mercury'', Rhode Island's first newspaper.

Later years

As Ann grew older, she turned over many business responsibilities to James Jr. After the deaths of her remaining children, Ann, then age 65, returned to the printing press. She took on the printer Samuel Hall, who had been her son-in-law, as her business partner in 1761, forming "Franklin & Hall". Under this imprint, they printed a

of Rhode Island schedules. Ann Smith Franklin died in 1763.

Posthumous awards

Hall of Fame,

* Yankee Quill Award, 2008 * Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, 1998

Partial works

Almanacs

General Assembly of Rhode Island

British

Religious

Franklin & Hall

References

External links

Ann Franklin Documents
from the Rhode Island State Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Ann Smith 1696 births 1763 deaths Printers from the Thirteen Colonies American women journalists People from colonial Rhode Island People from colonial Boston History of women in the United States Franklin family Women printers 18th-century American women writers 18th-century American businesspeople 18th-century American businesswomen Burials at Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery