Julia Chinn

Julia Chinn (c. 1790 – July 1833) was an American plantation manager and enslaved woman of "mixed-race" (an "octoroon" of seven-eighths European and one-eighth African ancestry), who was the common-law wife of the ninth vice president of the United States, Richard Mentor Johnson.

Her exact date of birth is unknown, according to historian Amrita Myers, though Johnson family lore places it in the year 1790.

[2] According to historian Christina Snyder, local oral tradition maintained that Chinn's mother's name was Henrietta, who was held in slavery by the Johnson family.

[2] She managed all the business affairs and on Johnson's orders the workers on the property were to obey her, an unusual act since she was an enslaved woman.

[1] This included overseeing the enslaved laborers, supervising the house and garden, the tavern on their farm, the mills, as well as planning entertainment and hospitality, which was part of her husband's political life.

[3] As an enslaved woman, this cash relationship in particular, connected her to the world of commerce in ways that were unusual for someone of her gender and background at the time.

[3] In her role as plantation manager, Chinn was able to improve the lives of her extended family as well: her brother Daniel and his sons worked in the house.

Upon Johnson's death, the Fayette County Court found that "he left no widow, children, father, or mother living."

This entailed a high degree of organization, both of the property she was responsible for, as well as the management of relations with the white political society in the community.

Apparently, his relationship with Chinn contributed to this because fears existed about its potential to be damaging by association to the reputation of the president hopeful.

[2] After Chinn's death, Johnson ran for the vice-presidency alongside the eighth president, Martin Van Buren, and was elected.

Historian Amrita Myers believes that Johnson's brothers destroyed much of his archive after his death for two reasons: first, so that they might disinherit his daughters, whom he had named as beneficiaries in his will; second, because they were ashamed of his relationship with Chinn.

[13] The University of North Carolina Press has scheduled for publication in October 2023 a biography, The Vice President’s Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn, by historian Dr. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers.