Revolutionary War Figure. Born in Connecticut, the daughter of the Reverend Timothy Johnes and Elizabeth Sayre Johnes, she was less than a year old when her father was assigned as pastor to the Morristown, New Jersey First Presbyterian Church. On January 27, 1762 she married the younger Jacob Ford of Morristown. A land, mill, and mine owner, he eventually built her a large Georgian mansion house on two hundred acres, the largest private home in town at that time. She would have five children with him. After 1776, her husband, a militia colonel, was largely from home until his January 1777 return during his final illness. During 1777, Theodosia saw the deaths of her husband and father in law in January, of her youngest child in June, and of her mother in law in August. Lees than two years later, the Widow Ford was approached by Quartermaster General Nathanael Greene who requested the use of her spacious house as a winter headquarters for General Washington. She agreed to the rental of several rooms and the General and his staff moved into her home on December 1, 1779 and would remain until June 1780 during one of the harshest winters ever recorded on the eastern seaboard. Theodosia and her children shared their house with General Washington, his staff, servants, and guests, including the Marquis de Lafayette. With the departure of the army in June of 1780, Theodosia returned to the administration of her husband's estate. She died at the age of 83; she never remarried.
Revolutionary War Figure. Born in Connecticut, the daughter of the Reverend Timothy Johnes and Elizabeth Sayre Johnes, she was less than a year old when her father was assigned as pastor to the Morristown, New Jersey First Presbyterian Church. On January 27, 1762 she married the younger Jacob Ford of Morristown. A land, mill, and mine owner, he eventually built her a large Georgian mansion house on two hundred acres, the largest private home in town at that time. She would have five children with him. After 1776, her husband, a militia colonel, was largely from home until his January 1777 return during his final illness. During 1777, Theodosia saw the deaths of her husband and father in law in January, of her youngest child in June, and of her mother in law in August. Lees than two years later, the Widow Ford was approached by Quartermaster General Nathanael Greene who requested the use of her spacious house as a winter headquarters for General Washington. She agreed to the rental of several rooms and the General and his staff moved into her home on December 1, 1779 and would remain until June 1780 during one of the harshest winters ever recorded on the eastern seaboard. Theodosia and her children shared their house with General Washington, his staff, servants, and guests, including the Marquis de Lafayette. With the departure of the army in June of 1780, Theodosia returned to the administration of her husband's estate. She died at the age of 83; she never remarried.
Bio by: Iola
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