Ann was a pioneering American printer and newspaper editor. Born Ann Smith in 1696 in Boston, Massachusetts, she became one of the first women involved in the printing trade in colonial America.
In 1723, she married James Franklin, a printer and the older brother of the famous Benjamin Franklin. The couple had five children. In 1727, they moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where James established The Rhode-Island Gazette, the colony’s first newspaper. However, when James died in 1735, Ann was left to support her family. She took over her husband’s printing business, becoming the first female printer in Newport and one of the earliest female printers in colonial America.
Ann Franklin printed books, pamphlets, and almanacs. In 1736, she became the official printer for the colony of Rhode Island, producing government documents and legal materials. In 1745, she and her son James Jr. established The Newport Mercury, which became one of the longest-running newspapers in America.
