Amita Chakrabarti Myers brings Julia Ann Chinn, the secret wife and mistress of Richard Mentor Johnson, to life. Johnson, vice president to Martin Van Buren, lived in Kentucky, and Julia was enslaved by his parents and eventually given to him. Though they never married, Julia and Johnson had two daughters, Imogene and Adeline, and Julia exercised powers typically associated with white women and wives such as running the property (a farm and an Indigenous school), which came with social, economic, and financial power. While this, of course, did not result in Julia, Johnson, and their daughters being accepted by society and the local church, this narrative represents a fascinating individual shift in the treatment and power of enslaved Black women in the early nineteenth century. Myers’ analysis of documents and other primary sources adds a great amount of detail and information to the book, ultimately revealing that Johnson’s social and political status dropped because of the public nature of this relationship (social power, financial power, white-passing daughters etc.), not because the relationship itself was offensive. Not only spotlighting a forgotten yet fascinating historical woman, Myers expands on the conversation of interracial relationships in the nineteenth century in this fascinating new book.

This intriguing tale explores the complex relationship between Richard Mentor Johnson, US vice president under Van Buren, and Julia Chinn, the mixed-race enslaved woman he never freed but entrusted to manage his estate. Although likely not consensual given Chinn's enslavement, their partnership granted her unusual power and community acceptance, within limits. Johnson's refusal to conceal his marriage to Chinn ultimately sparked his political downfall.

This well-researched and easy-to-read book provides an interesting story that sheds light on a hidden part of American history. It's not told in a narrative style but reveals facts based on historical documents.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

“This isn’t a romance novel. Richard M. Johnson was always an enslaver. He held close to 100 Black souls in bondage, including Julia Chinn. He flogged many…sold some… ‘downriver’ as punishment, mortgaged others to escape from debt, and engaged in coercive sex with several of the women he owned.”

Amrita Chakrabarti Myers presents a vital book about the untold life of Julia Chinn, an enslaved woman of mixed-race descent, including African, sometimes classified as one-eighth African descent. She was married to the 9th president of the United States, Richard Mentor Johnson. He was also her enslaver. She was raised and educated in his home. The Johnsons also owned Julia’s mother, Henrietta. By around 1811, Julia and Richard M Johnson were in a sexual relationship. Consent was not something that could be given because of Julia’s status as an enslaved woman. Because of this, countless situations occurred where white enslavers or their sons or anyone else in power on the plantation, even visiting relatives, raped and sexually violated the enslaved women and girls and in some cases even enslaved men. Putting aside the issue of whether or not this was a coerced or wanted relationship, Julia gave birth to their first daughter, Adaline, in 1812. Then their second daughter, Imogene. The law banned interracial marriages. Nonetheless, Johnson insisted that his daughters take his surname and receive education at the Choctaw Academy that he established. When Johnson’s father died, Richard M. Johnson inherited Chinn, who became his property. He outwardly treated her as his wife, which was not something common during the time period (early 19th-century).

In all of my studies of enslaved people of African descent, I hadn’t yet come across as a story as unique as Julia’s. She became the person who, even though she was still of enslaved status, and who Johnson did not manumit, ran the Blue Springs plantation that he owned. She supervised the house and garden, tavern, planned entertainment and hospitality, as well as looking after the education of their children. She handled budgets and lines of credit and worked as Johnson’s estate manager. Further, she was an authorized user of his bank accounts and paid for goods in his name. She paid the white, salaried workers on the plantation, including the teachers of the Choctaw Academy. However, Johnson being an enslaver always looking for his best interests, he mortgaged Julia’s brother Daniel and his wife to raise money so that he could pay his debts.

Eventually, Chinn focused more on the Choctaw School where she acted as a nurse. The Native American students who paid for their tuition did not appreciate Chinn’s reports on any misbehaviour by them to Johnson, which could lead to further punishments for them. Johnson never liberated Chinn, but he did free their surviving daughter. Toward the end of the book, after the author has revealed conversations and interviews with descendents of Imogene, Myers brings up the very firm likelihood that Richard Johnson had children with the other enslaved women of African descent he forced himself onto.

The author of this new monograph about Julia tells the reader that Julia Chinn’s final resting place remains unknown and unacknowledged to this day. Further, “… no one has ever tried to unearth the full story of her life.”

Although one might have expected Richard Johnson to have followed in the footsteps of so many white men in power who had their white wives and "official" families, then Black branches of the family as with Thomas Jefferson, Richard did not have a white wife or family. Johnson also referred to Julia as his wife, which was rare at the time. He also never denied paternity of their two daughters, introducing both of them to his colleagues, ensuring they received an education, and handing down to them them substantial property, as well.

What is even more interesting is that Kentucky whites tolerated Julia and Richard’s relationship, which is remarkable for the time period. More predictably, newspapers published angry pieces when Adaline married a white husband. Neighbours also made a huge fuss when Julia rode around in the family carriage, which was a marker of white womanhood. Essentially, it messed with all of their white supremacist ideals about what Black women could and could not do.

When Richard ran for the vice presidency, Julia had been dead for 3 years, having died of yellow fever. The news media of the time made a mess of his reputation, fixating on his interracial marriage with Julia. They published articles attacking him, Julia, and their daughters. The outrage came from the fact that they were open with their relationship. This cost him a lot. Most took umbrage with Richard's insistence on putting Black women on equal standing to white women. This was seen as breaking the decorum of white society of the time. Because he brought things into the light of day for all to see, other whites took issue with him.

There's also a significant exploration of the fact that Richard's brothers, John T and Henry, destroyed his records after his death to erase the evidence of Julia's existence and also to deny inheritance to his daughters. They were deeply ashamed that he had been involved with a Black woman and had daughters of African descent. They claimed that Richard died without a will, enlisted the help of a racist judge, robbed Imogene, one of Richard's daughters, of what remained of her father’s estate, and caused huge gaps in the archival record of what historians and scholars can point to about Black women's lives and experiences.

One of the reasons this book is vital now more than ever is because of the white politicians who are working overtime to try to erase truth, Black and non-white history, and atrocities committed by white Americans, indoctrination of young children that continues, and more. Authors, library workers, archival workers, scholars, historians, teachers, and those who believe in teaching the truth have had to work very hard since 2016 and in the current political nightmare of a climate to fight against book bans and the insistence of these politicians to spread as much misinformation as possible. It is a very difficult fight, and a crucially important one. It is one of the major reasons why everyone needs to read "The Vice President's Black Wife" particularly at a time when for the first time in history, there is not only a female Vice President of the United States, but also a Black and South Asian mixed race woman in that role--something the author also points to.

The book also painfully and starkly illustrates why context is everything. Yes, Julia’s life and focus were on survival. However, she lived in a very specific time and in the context of “the institution of slavery...[T]he Johnson women engaged in… ‘shady behavior.’ They focused on the freedom and prosperity of their family, and their family alone.” This reminded me a great deal of Marie-Therese "Coin Coin" Metoyer, her white husband Philippe who emancipated her and a few of her children that they had together, but not all. Coin Coin was also living a live of survival. When I've asked experts in this subject matter and on Louisiana history in particular whether Coin Coin had any moral or ethical dilemmas about enslaving other Black people -- even though she herself had been an enslaved person for much of her life -- one of them rightly pointed out that she was focused on making sure that her children did not suffer the same way she did, perhaps. It's a very morally ambiguous, grey area in which there are no easy answers or "good is good and bad is bad." And it's the same with Julia Chinn and her daughters.

The author has one line in particular toward the end of the book that reflects this morally grey area. It applies both to Julia Chinn's descendents as well as to Coin Coin and her descendents, and countless others: "The history of this nation is such that the freedom of some Black southerners was birthed, shaped, and solidified by the continued bondage of others, those with whom they ought to have shared common cause but whom they were separated from by the twisted structures of white supremacy.”

Especially notable is the focus on Kentucky history of the 19th century, for those readers interested in that place and time period. A map illustrates not only how large Kentucky was, but also how far and wide the French rule and New France stretched across into the United States.

Also of huge importance are the tales within the book of other enslaved people of African descent who resisted and fought back, particularly women like Celia in one of the early chapters of the book.

Readers who found "The Grimkes" by Kerri K. Greenidge to be meaningful and immersive will find the same feelings with this book in the world of Johnson and Julia Chinn. A remarkable, exceptional story, this is a history that should be far more widely known. Gripping, powerful, and moving at several points throughout the text, "The Vice President's Black Wife" deserves to be nominated for all of the history book writing awards for which it is eligible.

The title of this book drew me in because I never heard of a Vice President in the early years of the Republic having a black wife, this book intrigued me so much. The author laid out the claim that Richard Johnson, a Vice President of the United States, did indeed have a black wife and had two daughters by her. I am baffled by how a woman so important can basically be wiped out of American history. This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the terrible ramifications of slavery combined with being a woman. I learned so very much.
I highly recommend this book. #netgalley #thevicepresidentsblackwife

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy for review.

Award-winning historian Amrita Chakrabarti Myers has recovered the riveting, troubling, and complicated story of Julia Ann Chinn (ca. 1796–1833), the enslaved wife of Richard Mentor Johnson, owner of Blue Spring Farm, veteran of the War of 1812, and US vice president under Martin Van Buren. Johnson never freed Chinn, but during his frequent absences from his estate, he delegated to her the management of his property, including Choctaw Academy, a boarding school for Indigenous men and boys on the grounds of the estate. This meant that Chinn, although enslaved herself, oversaw Blue Spring's slave labor force and had substantial control over economic, social, financial, and personal affairs within the couple's world. Chinn's relationship with Johnson was unlikely to have been consensual since she was never manumitted.

What makes Chinn's life exceptional is the power that Johnson invested in her, the opportunities the couple's relationship afforded her and her daughters, and their community's tacit acceptance of the family—up to a point. When the family left their farm, they faced steep limits: pews at the rear of the church, burial in separate graveyards, exclusion from town dances, and more. Johnson's relationship with Chinn ruined his political career and Myers compellingly demonstrates that it wasn't interracial sex that led to his downfall but his refusal to keep it—and Julia Chinn—behind closed doors.

I was impressed with the amount of research that Myers did for this book. That being said, I found the information repetitive and dull. While the book was well formatted and the information of Chinn's life, the events and issues of the time, and the reactions of the characters were all historically informed and accurate, the writing was extremely clinical and journalistic. So much so that I actually looked up an interview done with Myers to figure out why the telling of such an important piece of history would be emotionless, unengaging and dry. A YouTube video explain that this writing style was chosen intentionally as we have no evidence of what Chinn thought or felt about the happenings.

I do believe that had the information been provided in a more engaging way, while still remaining true to the lack of Chinn's perspective on the world in which she lived, this would have been a five star read for me. I am also aware that I may not be the audience to truly appreciate this writing style. I do know people who would appreciate the no nonsense, journalistic approach to this biography, people to whom I would highly recommend this book. It just didn't really work for me.

An utterly fascinating book exploring the life of Julia Chin. She had so much power yet none at all. I admit, I had never heard of her prior to reading this book. I am baffled by how a woman so important can basically be wiped out of American history.

The Vice President's Black Wife is insightful, enraging and so very sad all at the same time. This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the terrible ramifications of slavery combined with being a woman. I learned so very much.
I highly recommend this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley.

4 stars
The Vice President's Black Wife
Amrita Chakrabarti Myers

Utterly fascinating book exploring the life of Julia Chin. She had so much power yet none at all. I admit, I had never heard of her prior to reading this book. I am baffled by how a woman so important can basically be wiped out of American history.
The Vice President's Black Wife is insightful, enraging and so very sad all at the same time. This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the terrible ramifications of slavery combined with being a woman. I learned so very much.
I highly recommend this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley.

I had never heard of a Vice President in the early years of the Republic having a black wife, this book intrigued me so much.

The author laid out the claim that Richard Johnson, a Vice President of the United States, did indeed have a black wife and had two daughters by her.

I liked how she laid out the book between private and public spaces and how everyone knew he had a black wife and children and it wasn't until he tried to bring them to a 4th of July BBQ that people got upset.

I learned about the incident and what happened to the children of the mixed marriage.

The drawbacks were that the author repeated the story several times ....black lady, handling business, was most likely Richard's wife, had children, mattered, etc.....throughout the book, it got to the point that I wondered if the author had a word count.

The last chapter of the book was completely unnecessary. The author went to the descednants of the couple and asked them if they KNEW about the interracial marriage.
Big Surprise coming....MOST did NOT.
Of course not, it was almost 5 generations ago.

It was bogged down with her interviewing distant relatives and I had no idea if they were related or not.

Overall, an ok history book about a little known fact of a Vice President and how it affected him and her in the community.