Ann Nessfield Steele (1784–1804), the oldest daughter of John Steele, was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, and educated at the Moravian School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 1801, she accompanied her father to Washington, D.C., where he served as comptroller of the treasury. During her time in the capital, Ann Steele’s social calendar included not only her invitation to dine with the president but also repeated dinners at the home of James and Dolley Madison. She married Jesse A. Pearson in 1804 (Archibald Henderson, “John Steele,” The North Carolina Booklet, 18 [1919], 163–4, 174–5).