Franks, Rebecca (c. 1760–1823)

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Franks, Rebecca (c. 1760–1823)

American socialite. Name variations: Rebecca Johnson or Lady Rebecca Johnson. Born Rebecca Evans in c. 1760, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; died Feb 13, 1823, in Bath, England; dau. of David Franks and Margaret Evans Franks; m. Henry Johnson (British army officer), Jan 12, 1782; children: 2 sons.

Well-known Philadelphia belle, related to powerful colonial families, including the De Lanceys, Hamiltons, Allens, and Penns, who was famed for beauty and wit; though a Loyalist, was later sympathetic to the American cause; moved to England after marriage; became Lady Johnson when husband became baronet after fighting in Irish Rebellion (1818).

See also Max J. Kohler, Rebecca Franks: An American Jewish Belle of the Last Century (1894).