Julia
Ann
Chinn
Born about in Scott, Kentucky, United States (then Virginia)
Daughter of Unknown Chinn
and [mother unknown]
Sister of
Daniel Chinn and Unknown Chinn
[spouse(s) unknown]
Descendants 
Mother of
Adaline Johnson and Imogene Johnson
Died about
at about age 53
in Kentucky [uncertain]
[uncertain]Profile last modified
| Created 5 May 2011
This page has been accessed 2,619 times.
| Julia Chinn is a spouse of a US President/Vice President Join: US Presidents Project Discuss: Presidents |
Biography
Julia Chinn is a part of US Black heritage.
Julia Chinn was born about 1780. One of her great grandparents was African; otherwise her ancestry was European. Presumably Julia was born into slavery, likewise her mother, her mother's mother, and that grandmother's mother (who was possibly born free and the first of the line to be enslaved).
Julia was enslaved by Robert M. Johnson, possibly from birth. In the 1810s Julia gave birth to two children fathered by Robert's son Richard Mentor Johnson. Although it was illegal at the time for the two to marry, they were married in an illegitimate ceremony at Great Crossing Baptist Church. Adaline was born about 1812 and Imogene was born a few years later. (Not what their profiles say. Will investigate.)
When Robert died in 1815, Richard legally inherited Julia. He treated Julia as his common-law wife. No records exist to reveal how Julia saw their interactions. When Johnson was away from his Kentucky plantation, he authorized Chinn to manage his business affairs.
Julia died in a cholera epidemic in the summer of 1833.
Research Notes
- Existing bio was apparently based entirely on Johnson's Wikipedia entry. I've demoted that to a see also, added a link to JULIA's Wikipedia, and am gathering secondary sources (rather than Wikipedia, which is at best a tertiary source).
- Additional bio from BlackPast.org adds some timeline details.
Sources
See also: Maillard, Mary. Julia Ann Chinn (CA 1790-1833) Feb 3, 2014
Julia Chinn at Wikipedia
Richard Mentor Johnson at Wikipedia
Julia Chinn, the putative common-law wife of 9th US vice president Richard Mentor Johnson (1780-1850), was born an octoroon slave in Scott County, Kentucky. Her parents and exact date of birth are unknown, but she was raised and educated in Johnson’s household by his mother Jemima Suggett Johnson. By 1812, Julia had become Richard Johnson’s close companion and mother of their two daughters: Adeline J. Johnson (Scott) (ca.1812-1836) and Imogene Malvina Johnson (Pence) (1812-1885)...Richard inherited Julia upon his father's death in 1815. Interracial marriage was illegal in Kentucky.
During Johnson’s many absences from home while representing Kentucky in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. (1807-1819) and as a senator (1819-1829), Julia Chinn ran Johnson’s household . ... In 1825, she acted as Johnson’s official hostess during the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Blue Spring Farm, the Johnson home. She saw to it that their daughters received an elite education. Both daughters married white men. Imogene, who married in 1830, and Adeline, in 1832, both received large properties and numerous slaves from their father. Julia Chinn was also entrusted during Johnson’s absences with oversight of his numerous business interests, including interactions with students and officials of Choctaw Academy, the Indian residential school established by Johnson.
Johnson’s Senate career ended in 1828 when the state legislature appointed another person to the Senate seat. Julia Chinn died in the cholera epidemic of 1833. Johnson subsequently took two of Julia’s nieces as his common-law wives but later sold them. In 1836, he was elected to the office of Vice President by the U.S. Senate under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. He served one term as U.S. Vice President with President Martin Van Buren but was not renominated in 1840, perhaps because many associates regarded his personal life a liability.
He died of a stroke in 1850 and left most of his estate to his surviving daughter, Imogene, and grandchildren.
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/02/07/julia-chinn-slave-wife-vice-president/
- https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/12/2192944/-He-Became-the-Nation-s-Ninth-Vice-President-She-Was-His-Enslaved-Wife
- https://www.amazon.com/Vice-Presidents-Black-Wife-Untold/dp/1469675234
Is Julia your ancestor? Please don't go away!
Login to collaborate or comment, or
contact
the profile manager, or
ask our community of genealogists a question.
Login to collaborate or comment, or contact
the profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com
DNA
No known carriers of Julia's DNA have taken a DNA test. Have you taken a test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
No known carriers of Julia's DNA have taken a DNA test. Have you taken a test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Featured Asian and Pacific Islander connections: Julia is 22 degrees from 今上 天皇, 21 degrees from Adrienne Clarkson, 22 degrees from Dwight Heine, 24 degrees from Dwayne Johnson, 22 degrees from Tupua Tamasese Lealofioaana, 14 degrees from Stacey Milbern, 20 degrees from Sono Osato, 29 degrees from 乾隆 愛新覺羅, 18 degrees from Ravi Shankar, 26 degrees from Taika Waititi, 24 degrees from Penny Wong and 15 degrees from Chang Bunker on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
Categories: Spouses of US Presidents
No known carriers of Julia's mitochondrial DNA have taken an mtDNA test. No close relatives have taken a 23andMe, AncestryDNA, or Family Tree DNA "Family Finder" test. of Brenda took the test. I know because I had a conversation with her and reached out because she also matches my paternal half brother Timothy Scott who also took the test.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:DNA_Features#DNA_Test_Connections_on_Relevant_Profiles https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:DNA_Test_Connections#What_is_a_DNA_Test_Connection.3F
Biskin wrote an article about Chinn in Negro Digest, later called Black World, that was entitled "History's Lovely Phantom: The Story of Julia Chinn" (Feb 1964, pp. 17-21)
edited by Don Osborn