Jonas and Anne Catherine Green Park

Jonas and Anne Catherine Green Park. . , JONAS and ANNE CATHERINE GREEN served successfully as Printer to the Province and publisher of The Maryland Gazette for many years before the start of the American Revolution., Jonas (1712-1767) descended from a family of New England printers and honed his craft with Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. In Annapolis, he held several prominent positions including city alderman, vestryman of St. Anne's Church, and postmaster. He was a leading wit of the celebrated Tuesday Club, which bestowed upon him the title of "Purveyor, Punster, Punchmaker General, Printer, and Poet." Jonas championed freedom of the press during the Stamp Act crisis, when the rallying cry first went out against "taxation without representation.", Anne's life (c.1720-1775) was a triumph of perseverance over personal hardship. Born in Holland and married in her late teens, she bore 14 children - and buried 8 - by the time she took over the printing business upon her husband's death. Under Anne's skillful direction, the Gazette never missed an issue, and she completed the government printing contracts to everyone's satisfaction, leading Maryland's General Assembly to appoint her as the official government printer at the same salary as Jonas before her., As testaments to her success, Anne purchased the deed to the family's rented home on Charles Street and had her portrait painted by Charles Wilson Peale, who pictured her holding her printer's contract. She died less than one month before "the shot heard 'round the world" starting the American Revolution., Jonas and Anne Catherine Green were among the most influential citizens of 18th century Maryland. Through their courageous efforts, they helped lay the foundation for independent journalism essential to American democracy., In 2018, Jonas Green Park was renamed to honor both Jonas' and Anne's contributions to the history of Annapolis, to the State of Maryland, and to the nation.