Benjamin Franklin

BORN – January 17, 1706, in a house on Milk Street in Boston, MA, Parents (English ancestry) – Josiah Franklin (b1657-d1745) and Anne Child Franklin (b1655-d1689).  Seven Children – Elizabeth Franklin Berry / Douse (b1678-d1759), Samuel Franklin (b1681-d1720), Hannah Franklin (b1683-d1723), Josiah Franklin, Jr. (b1685-d1715, disappeared at sea), Anne Franklin Harris (b1687-d1729), Joseph Franklin 1 (b1688-d1688, 5 days later), Joseph Franklin 2 (b1689-d1689, 15 days later), Wife, Anne died in childbirth with Joseph 2.  Married - Abiah Lee Folger (b1667-d1752) in 1689.  Ten Children –  John Franklin (b1690-d1756), Peter Franklin (b1692-d1766), Mary Franklin Homes (b1694-d1730), James Franklin (b1696-d1735), Sarah Franklin Davenport (b1699-d1731), Ebenezer Franklin (b1701-d1702, drowned at age one), Thomas Franklin (b1703-d1706), Benjamin Franklin (b1706-d1790, eighth child of Abiah, Josiah’s fifteenth and the last son), Lydia Franklin Scott (b1708-d1758), Jane Franklin Mecom (b1712-d1794).

DIED - April 17, 1790 (age 84) at the home of his daughter, Sarah Bache, in Philadelphia, PA.  His last words were – “A dying man can do nothing easy.”  Religion – Anglican / Episcopalian (Deist).  Buried - Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, PA  

APPEARANCE – The picture above is the portrait of Benjamin Franklin (age 70) painted by Joseph-Siffrein Duplessis in 1785.  Strongly built, rounded like a swimmer or a wrestler, not angular like a runner.  He was five feet nine or ten inches tall, with a large head and square, deft hands.  His hair was blond or light brown, his eyes grey, full, and steady, his mouth wide and humorous with a pointed upper lip.  His clothing was as clean as it was plain.  He and others say he was hesitant in speech, he was prompt in action.

FAMILY – Mistress – name unknown (possibly Deborah Read).  One Child – William Franklin (b1731-d1813).  Benjamin Franklin also raised the son of William – William Temple Franklin (b1762-d1823).  Married – Deborah Read (b1708-d1774), common law marriage in 1730.  Two Children – Francis Folger Franklin (b1732-d1736), Sarah (Sally) Franklin Bache (b1743-d1808).     

OCCUPATION – PRINTER, WRITER, SCIENTIST, INVENTOR, SOLDIER, LEGISLATOR, DIPLOMAT.  Became known as “The First American.”  Self-taught, avid reader, little formal education.  Established a printing business in Philadelphia in 1732.  Became wealthy publishing the Poor Richard’s Almanac and the Pennsylvania Gazette.  Considered “The Father of Electricity, through his inventions, experiments (famous kite experiment in 1752), and writings.”  Member of the Continental Congress representing Pennsylvania from 1775 to 1776.  First U.S. Postmaster General from 1775 to 1776.  Member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and was one of the 40 Signers of the Constitution.  Governor of Pennsylvania from 1785 to 1788.     

AT SIGNING – Oldest signer at age 70.  Member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration - John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson.  Franklin made minor changes to draft and Congress condensed the final five paragraphs.  At the signing, he is quoted as having replied to a comment by John Hancock that they must all hang together - "Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."  

AFTER SIGNING – Attended the Staten Island Peace Conference with John Adams, Edward Rutledge and the British on September 11, 1776.  U.S. Minister to France from 1776 to 1785.  Helped to negotiate the Treaty of Alliance with France in 1778 and the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War in 1783.  His illegitimate son, William Franklin, who he had raised, served as the last British Governor of the New Jersey Colony and became a Loyalist.  Their differences caused an irreconcilable break between them.           

HISTORIC SITES                                                                                                                             

Philadelphia Home - Franklin Court, Philadelphia, PA (1763).  Located at 322 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106, Phone 215- 965-2305, Website www.nps.gov/inde/fragments-of-frankin-court.    The roadside historical marker reads – “BENJAMIN FRANKLIN – 1706-1790 – Printer, author, inventor, diplomat, philanthropist, statesman and scientist.  The eighteenth century’s most illustrious Pennsylvanian built a house in Franklin Court starting in 1763, and here he lived the last five years of his life.”  A steel "ghost structure" outlining the spot where Franklin's house stood and features an underground museum with a film and displays.                                                                                                                                              

Gravesite – Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, PA (1744).  Located at 20 North American Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, near the 5th and Arch Street corner.  Phone 215-922-1695, Website www.christchurchphila.org.  Benjamin Franklin was a member of the church.       

Memorial – Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, Philadelphia, PA (1938).  Located at the Franklin Institute (Museum), 222 North 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, Phone 215-448-1200, Website www.nps.gov/inde/benjamin-franklin-national-memorial.  The center piece of the Memorial is a 20 foot high marble statue of Benjamin Franklin made of white Seravezza marble.                                         

London Home – Benjamin Franklin House Museum, London, UK (1730).  Located at 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NF, United Kingdom, Phone +44 20 7839 2006, Website www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org.  The only surviving residence of Benjamin Franklin where he lived and worked for 16 years.

Independence Hall – Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA (1753).  Located at 520 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, Phone 215-965-2305, Website www.nps.gov/inde.  Location where the Declaration of Independence (1776) and U.S. Constitution (1787) were debated and adopted.

Conference House – Conference House, Staten Island, NY (1680).  Located at 298 Satterlee Street, Staten Island, NY 10307, on the south end of the island.  Phone 718-984-6046, Website www.conferencehouse.org.  Site of the Staten Island Peace Conference attended by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Edward Rutledge and the British on September 11, 1776. 

Gravesite of Benjamin Franklin and 6 Other Signers, Christ Church and Burial Ground (1744).  

Located at 20 North American Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, Phone 215-922-1695, Website www.christchurchphila.org.

The main body of the Episcopal Church was built in 1744.  The steeple was added in 1754, making it the tallest building in North America at the time.  The Church's congregation included 15 signers of the Declaration of Independence.  The historic burial ground is several blocks from the church and has seven signers of the Declaration – Benjamin Franklin (PA), George Ross (PA), Benjamin Rush (PA), and Robert Morris (PA), James Wilson (PA), Francis Hopkinson (NJ), Joseph Hewes (NC).

Home of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin Court, Philadelphia, PA (1763). 

Located at 322 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106, Phone 215- 965-2305, Website www.nps.gov/inde/fragments-of-frankin-court.

The roadside historical marker reads – “BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706 – 1790) – Printer, author, inventory, diplomat, philanthropist, statesman and scientist.  The eighteenth century’s most illustrious Pennsylvanian built a house in Franklin Court starting in 1763, and here he lived the last five years of his life.”  The house was torn down 20 years after his death in 1790.  Today,    the site contains a steel "ghost structure" outlining the spot where Franklin's house stood and features an underground museum with a film and displays, an 1700’s printing office, an architectural / archeological exhibit, an operating post office and a postal museum.