The following biographical information was provided by the seller, who among other sources used diaries and letters of the Warner family at his disposal. This information has not been verified:

Anne was the daughter of Brainard Warner Sr and Mary Parker Warner. At the time Anne wrote this diary she had two sisters and two brothers who were living: Bess (with who she lived), Mary Warner Cooke, Brainard Jr and Andrew Parker Warner (known as Parker). Her mother died in 1885 when Anne was 9. It looks like Mary Parker Warner died after childbirth. Brainard Warner Sr. remarried two years later in 1887 to Mary Philips. They had three children: Margaret, Albert and Hamilton.

Brainard Warner Sr was a dynamic man who made a fortune in real estate , banking and land development in Washington D.C. and Maryland. He was the founder of Kensington Maryland. His company was responsible for the oversight of building over 1000 buildings and homes in the Washington DC area He was also the founder of the Washington Pubic library.

Bess’s mother was Mary Jacobs Parker Warner who was descended from Edward Doty, a Pilgrim and indentured servant who sailed over on the Mayflower, signed the Mayflower Compact and helped to settle Plymouth Colony.

So Anne grew up in a family that money and status. She had two brothers who served as consuls: Brainard Jr and Southard. Southard committed suicide while serving in Manchuria (China) in 1914.

Neither Bess, the oldest child, nor Anne ever married. They lived together all of their lives until Bess’s death in 1942. They grew up in a house that their father built at 2100 Massachusetts Avenue. As adults they lived in an apartment at 1868 Columbia Road in Washington DC.