Page content
Resize textResize textResize text largerEmail pagePrint pageShare this page
View related multimedia and links

Anne Geddy

sealing an envelope
  • Date and place of birth unknown
  • Married James Geddy Sr.
  • Mother of eight children
  • Widowed at young age
  • Businesswoman and property owner

Anne Geddy was the wife of James Geddy Sr. Together they had eight children, four boys and four girls. When James died abruptly in late summer 1744, the Geddy family was suddenly left without its head and the Geddy family business without its master. Evidence suggests that Anne Geddy was a strong and capable woman, especially since her husband willed his entire estate to her – a somewhat unusual occurrence in the colonial time period.

Astute businesswoman

Anne quickly assumed direction of the business affairs of the family. In October 1744, she petitioned the House of Burgesses for the payment of a debt owed to her deceased husband for cleaning 700 weapons in the Magazine by order of the governor. Anne's petition was initially rejected. Undeterred by this setback, she persisted in her application and was finally awarded a substantial sum of money.

Anne's oldest sons, David and William, were probably sufficiently skilled at the time of their father's death to be able to continue the operation of the foundry and gunsmith shop. The situation of Anne's two younger sons, however, was rendered somewhat uncertain by their father's death. James Jr. was only 13 when his father died and John even younger, so neither could have progressed very far in an apprenticeship to their father.

Sons apprenticed silversmith tenant

Although documentary evidence of Geddy family activities during this period is extremely scant, there is reason to believe that Anne put together an arrangement to rent part of her property to Samuel Galt, a local silversmith, thus securing extra income for her family. At the same time, she may have apprenticed James and John to Galt, thus providing for their education. This scenario is based upon known facts that Galt worked on the Geddy site at one point in his career and that James and John Geddy both became silversmiths.

Anne sold the property to her son James Geddy Jr. in 1760. She may have continued to live with him after this. She died sometime between 1784 and 1787.

For further reading:

Multimedia and related links

  • podcasts