Background
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.
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.
She was educated in Dublin, Ireland, while her older brothers were educated in Scotland and eventually joined the British Army.
She is regarded as the second Second Lady of the United States, following Abigail Adams. Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and George Clinton were widowers during their tenures as Vice-President. Thompson"s business was by 1750 based in New York City, where Ann was born in 1763.
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".
There she caught the eye of Elbridge Gerry, a Marblehead, Massachusetts politician twenty years her elder who was serving in the Confederation Congress. The couple had ten children between 1787 and 1801 (only one of which died young).
Her husband was frequently concerned over her health, but was also frequently away. Massachusetts Senator Christopher Gore proposed that the vice presidential salary be paid her for the rest of her life, but Congress rejected the idea because it might set a precedent for such payments.
She died in New Haven, Connecticut on March 17, 1849.
She was buried in New Haven"s Old Burying Ground (now under the New Haven Green).