Rebecca Franks was born in Pennsylvania about 1760, the daughter and youngest child of
David Franks, a businessman, and the sister of Abigail (1745–1798), the wife of Andrew Hamilton (son of the noted
attorney of the same name and proprietor of "
The Woodlands"), and the niece of Phila Franks, who married
Oliver De Lancey an American loyalist politician and a major general during the
American War of Independence. She was the granddaughter of
Abigail Franks, who wrote about the social, political, and religious milieu of 18th-century New York in a series of letters to her son in England between the years 1733 and 1748. During the War of Independence, she, like her father, sided with
Great Britain, and during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1778 she took part in the "
Mischianza," a celebrated, elaborate
fête given in honor of departing British General
Sir William Howe, and at which Major
John André presided. "The Times, a Poem by Camilio Querno, Poet Laureate of the Congress," a loyalist composition, has been attributed to her. Her literary ability, as well as her vivacity and wit, were well known; she carried on a correspondence with prominent men, and General
Charles Lee of the
Continental Army addressed to her a letter that attracted much attention, being published in the magazines of the day. In 1782 in New York, she married Lieutenant-Colonel (later General)
Henry Johnson, of the
17th Regiment of Foot, and moved to
Bath, England. Johnson distinguished himself by an act of gallantry in one of the outbreaks of rebellion in
Ireland, and received the honor of a baronetcy, whereupon Rebecca became Lady Johnson. They had two sons, one of whom was killed at the
Battle of Waterloo. She remained in Bath until her death in September 1823. ==References==