Ann Cooper Whitall

Ann Cooper Whitall (1716–1797) was a prominent Quaker woman in the colonial U.S. She was born in Woodbury, New Jersey to John and Ann Cooper on April 23, 1716. She married James Whitall in 1739 at age 23. Whitall kept a diary starting in about 1760 that contains important historical insight into the lives of people in the Red Bank area and Quaker family life in colonial times.

Both devout Quakers, Ann and her husband were pacifists and remained neutral throughout the American Revolutionary War despite the immediate threat that the conflict posed to their home and livelihood.

Whitall would stay in her house during the 1777 Battle of Red Bank, The battle was a victory for the colonists, and afterwards Whitall opened her house to wounded on both sides. Tours are available seasonally.

Ann Cooper Whitall's brother John Cooper served in the Continental Congress in 1776. Her grandson John Mickle Whitall was a sea captain and Quaker businessman who manufactured glass bottles in Millville, New Jersey. Her great-granddaughter Hannah Whitall Smith was a speaker and writer. One great-great-granddaughter M. Carey Thomas was a president of Bryn Mawr College. Another great-great-granddaughter was Alys Pearsall Smith, the first wife of Bertrand Russell.

Material on Ann Whitall, including a copy of her diary, is available in the Frank H. Stewart Collection at Rowan University Libraries Archives and Special Collection in Glassboro, New Jersey.