Josephine Antoinette (Ward) Thomson (1820 - 1906)

Born 1820 in Sing Sing, Westchester, New York, United States

Ancestors

Died 2 Mar 1906 at about age 86 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Biography

Josephine Antoinette Ward was born in 1820 at Sing Sing, Westchester County, New York. She was the eldest child ofof Aaron Ward and Mary Watson.

She was a founding member of the Princeton Daughters of the American Revolution, and the first benefactor of the Princeton University Graduate College. With Kate McFarlane, Josephine helped preserve Rockingham, George Washington's final headquarters of the Revolutionary War, from demolition and decay.

She was the second wife of Senator John R. Thomson from 1845 until his death in 1862. In 1878, Josephine became the second wife of former Governor of Maryland, Thomas Swann. Some of the groom's family said this was a sign of "insanity growing out of dotage." The Governor was 72 at the time. The couple separated in 1880.

Josephine was a frequent participant in Miss Matoaca Gay's Shakespeare seminars during the 1880s and 1890s.

She died 2 March 1906 in Washington, D.C. and is buried at Princeton, New Jersey.

Sources

• Find A Grave: Memorial #153732830
• Wikipedia contributors. "Josephine Ward Thomson." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.