Death in Newport, Rhode Island

Ann Smith Franklin died on April 16, 1763, in Newport, Rhode Island, having spent nearly three decades as an independent printer and, in her final year, as America's first female newspaper editor. She was sixty-six years old at the time of her death.

Her obituary, published in the very newspaper she had edited — the Newport Mercury — praised her for her "great integrity", a fitting tribute to a woman who had spent her career ensuring the accurate and reliable dissemination of news, laws, and official colonial documents. This kind of public recognition in print was notable for a woman of her era, reflecting the genuine respect she had earned within her community.

By the time of her death, Ann had built an extraordinary legacy: she had served as official printer to the Colony of Rhode Island from 1736 until her death, printing the colony's charter, laws, ballots, and currency; she had authored the first almanac written by a woman in America; and she had guided the Newport Mercury as its editor without ever missing an issue.

Her death marked the end of an era for Rhode Island printing, but her influence persisted. She had trained her own children in the trade, and the standards of accuracy and reliability she established for colonial printing left a lasting mark on the region's civic and journalistic institutions. Her story would later be commemorated through her induction into the Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame and the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.