Stephen Coss is the author of the book The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic that Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics. One of the foremost of the Founding Fathers, Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence and was one of its signers, represented the United States in France during the American Revolution, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Around the time they married Franklin took custody of an illegitimate child, William. Biographers and historians tend to shy away from his married life, perhaps because it defies idealization. Franklin laid into Deborah for the error, deeming her careless. Franklin swooped in and took Deborah as his common-law wife on September 1, 1730 common-law so that, if Mr. Potter returned, neither one would be in violation of bigamy laws. Your Reasons against entering into it at present, appear to me not well-founded. Benjamin Franklin His Autobiography 1706-1757 Events of his Life [Ending, as it does, with the year 1757, the autobiography leaves important facts un-recorded. In an age that privileged the firstborn son, Franklin was, as he tartly noted in his Autobiography, the youngest Son of the youngest Son for five Generations back. He learned to read very early and had one year in grammar school and another under a private teacher, but his formal education ended at age 10. The Energizer Bunny? This event profoundly saddened the Franklins. LOL I didnt just say that! This was the flux that Franklins editors note referred to. Author of, Alva O. Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Franklin didnt return Benny Bache to his parents for nine years. Meanwhile, Pennsylvanias governor, William Keith, happened upon a letter Franklin had written and decided he was a young Man of promising Partsso promising that he offered to front the money for Franklin to set up his own printing house and promised to send plenty of work his way. He had intended to have my Child inoculated, as soon as he should have recovered sufficient Strength from a Flux with which he had been long afflicted.. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly producd may be attended with much Inconvenience. . Over 35 years of marriage, Benjamin Franklin had indirectly praised Deborah's work ethic and common sense through "wife" characters in his Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richard's Almanac. Keiths motives may have been more political than paternal, but with that, the couple interchangd some Promises, in Franklins telling, and he set out for London. 7) They who have nothing to trouble them will be troubled at nothing. Through its grants program, the NHPRC supports a wide range of activities to Benjamin Franklin was a printer, publisher, author, inventor, scientist, and diplomat. Benjamin's mother was Abiah Folger, the second wife of Josiah. However, lets face it, there are a lot of older women who never evolve and remain stuck in their own fears. Given Franklins notorious frugality, the commission was an extraordinary indulgencemost tradesmen didnt have portraits made of themselves, let alone their children. I know you didnt see the misspelled words because you misspell just as atrociously. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. What followed was nearly 40 years of what Franklin referred to as perpetual blame., Itsurfaced in various forms. He was the grandfather of journalist, printer, and publisher Benjamin Franklin Bache, Texas military figure Richard Bache, Jr., and diplomat William Temple Franklin. It appears that Deborah, tired of arguing with her husband over the need to baptize their son, had it done while he was out of town. Mrs. Read did precisely that, later admitting to Franklin, as he wrote, that she had persuaded the other Match in my Absence. She had been quick about it, too; Franklins letter reached Deborah in late spring 1725, and she was married by late summer. Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. Most likely, it was a disagreement with Deborah over inoculation. Franklin said as much many years later. Marriage is the proper Remedy. And we can imagine that for Deborah it was even worse. Copyright 2009-2021 The Redhead Riter | Commenting Policy | Disclosure | Disclaimer | Privacy |, A Short Motivational Thought, Wish And Quote. Sometimes being married is actually BAD for a person and I dont think being single means less happiness. Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. I love brainy people. 2. One of the foremost of theFounding Fathers,he helped draft theDeclaration of Independenceand was one of its signers, he represented the United States in France during theAmerican Revolution, and he was a delegate to theConstitutional Convention. The answer isnt simple. A ship under sail and a big-bellied Woman, / Are the handsomest two things that can be seen common, Benjamin would write in June 1735. Did he envy it? Leonard W. Labaree. Franklin family members worked in the smith trade for nearly 300 years. In March and April 1773 he wrote vaguely of coming home, and then in October he trotted out what had become his stock excuse, that winter passage was too dangerous. The first was Francis Folger Franklin born October 1732. Poor Richard's Almanack, p.17, Barnes & Noble Publishing. We can not be whole without a mate for this enables us to practice everything together and have no sin involved. Silence Dogood. Franklin had been obliged to help print attacks against it in his brothers newspaper, but the procedures success won him over. The second, Sarah Franklin born in 1743. (Franklin immortalized his wifes fiery personality in various fictional counterparts, including Bridget Saunders, wife of Poor Richard. There was no ceremony. Benjamin loved the child and his new role as a dad, but that did not mean he opened up to be more of a loving husband to Deborah. But rather than focusing on the devastation caused by the disease, Franklins coverage dealt primarily with the success of smallpox inoculation. Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress (1745) June 25, 1745 My dear Friend, I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural Inclinations you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources, relating to the history of Benjamin's son William Franklin was most likely born around 1730 out of an illegitimate relationship that later became a common-law marriage. The addressee is unknown; and the letter may in fact be an essay in the form of a letter. -Joseph Campbell Resolve to perform what you ought. Francis Folger Franklin. Because the Sin is less. Then he had his own romantic calamity: He learned that a young woman of his acquaintance was pregnant with his child. That didn't end well, as Potter absconded to the West Indies to escape paying some debts. He was telling a young man how to choose a mistress, but while doing so, he talked about the wisdom of marrying and the qualities of older women. Your email address will not be published. He also became more empatheticits hard to imagine he would have written an essay like On the Death of Infants, which was inspired by the death of an acquaintances child, had he not been enraptured by his own son and fearful lest a similar fate should befall him. 1. Over 35 years of marriage, Benjamin Franklin had indirectly praised Deborahs work ethic and common sense through wife characters in his Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richards Almanac. Franklin entered a common law marriage - a social contract which, after years of co-habitation, resulted in a . In 1730 he and Meredith were named Pennsylvanias official printers. In the same period he read tirelessly and taught himself to write effectively. Six years into that marriage, her husband was advancing so quickly in the world that she might have begun to worry he might one day outgrow his plain, poorly educated wife. A Quick Biography of. LOL , Reading Benjamin Franklins letter in the year 2013, I have to agree with you, a lot of the things he wrote about marriage in the year 1745 appear to be funny to us today, because it just isnt true. In all, Josiah would father 17 children. Possibly he just lost his nerve. The budding friendship between the two young people soon developed into mutual attraction. As a scientist, Franklin took great interest in inoculating against the disease. Gone are a me days o fun. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. A recurring theme was Benjamins belief that Deborah was irresponsible. Franklin exchanged some promises about marriage with Deborah Read and, with a young friend, James Ralph, as his companion, sailed for London in November 1724, just over a year after arriving in Philadelphia. But the facts are more complicated. Franklin went from viewing Deborah as a great business partner, to blaming her for the problems of the business (via Smithsonian Magazine). Deborah could tell herself that a man who would write such a letter would not repeat his previous sojourn in England, which had begun in 1757 with a promise to be home soon and dragged on for five years, during which rumors filtered back to Philadelphia that he was enjoying the company of other women. Jednm z jeho najvch diplomatickch spechov v Pari bolo v roku 1783 dosiahnutie mierovej zmluvy s Vekou Britniou, m bola v podstate ukonen vojna o nezvislos USA. But the rest, spot on, Ben, baby. The circumstantial Advantages you have in View by postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with that of the Thing itself, the being married and settled. In October 1765, Deborah Franklin sent a gushing letter to her husband, who was in London on business for the Pennsylvania legislature. Did I say a? Every day we present the best quotes! They entered a common-law agreement which protected them from bigamy if her runaway husband returned. Wherein a Practicable Plan is laid down for Obtaining and Securing Conjugal Felicity. More substantive evidence suggests the delay was due to Franklins oft-expressed antipathy to organized religion. He immigrated to New York City, New York, United States in 1943. Finding a bakery, he asked for three pennies worth of bread and got three great Puffy Rolls. Carrying one under each arm and munching on the third, he walked up Market Street past the door of the Read family, where stood Deborah, his future wife. He was reporting this, he said, to show how groundless all those extravagant Reports are, that have been spread through the Province to the contrary. In the next weeks Gazette he plugged inoculation again, excerpting a prominent English scientific journal. You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in your wife? We are like the pink rabbit with the batteries, but men, well do I need to say more? But still I advise you to marry directly; being sincerely Your affectionate Friend. Prose was another matter. By that logic, risking her son to inoculation was unacceptable. ( 337 ) $9.99. Usually, inoculated patients became slightly ill, broke out in a few, smallish pox, and recovered quickly, immune to the disease for the rest of their lives. Recall Benjamin Franklin said, "Good wives usually make good husbands" and "The likeliest Way, either to obtain a good Husband, or to keep one so, is to be Good yourself". 5. I wonder if he spelled them right for 1748 or if he was like my Mom and daughter! In the Autobiography he wrote that he should have beenashamd at seeing Miss Read, had not her Friendspersuaded her to marry another. If he wasnt ashamed, what was he? The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy. Franklin never said his son was sick, but that he had not recovered sufficient Strength. Its possible that Franky had been ill, but was no longer showing symptoms of dysentery. LOL I obviously love you anyway. Perhaps it was. Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress (1745) June 25, 1745 My Dear Friend, I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural Inclinations you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. As for the letter, it seems to me he had a lot of experience to be able to go on with so much knowledge. But one of the most eloquentand least expectedcommentators on the subject is Benjamin Franklin. But as in that earlier case, his public chivalry probably disguised his private beliefs. (Posthumous painting. Thank you for providing this, it was fun reading, with some valid points. Mulligan: Franklin, of course, never sent "Fart . Benjamin Franklin was born the 10th son of the 17 children of a man who made soap and candles, one of the lowliest of the artisan crafts. The National Historical Publications and The Gazette reported that of the Several Hundreds of people inoculated in the Boston area that year, about four had died. Benjamin's great-great-grandfather was Thomas Franklin who was born in 1540 in Ecton, England, and worked as a blacksmith. Perform without fail what you resolve. Avoid, both before and after marriage, all thoughts of managing your husband, he advised wives. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The grateful part, Im not so sure! The Truth About Benjamin Franklin's Relationship With His Wife. In this essay, Franklin took on the role of "Father Abraham" and dispensed knowledge to his readers by quoting heavily from that wise old sage, "Poor Richard." Franklin's adages in The Way to Wealth teach us that success is just the consistent application of hard work and thrift. American author, scientist, and statesman. Either intentionally or accidentally, as a side effect of her stroke, she sometimes confused the two, referring to Franklins grandson as your son and our child.. Francis Folger Franklin, Ben's son. In a June 1770 letter, an elated Deborah wrote to her husband that William Franklin believed Benny Bache is like Frankey Folger. Deborah simply moved into Franklins home and printing house at what is now 139 Market Street. When smallpox returned to Philadelphia in September 1736, he couldnt resist lampooning the logic of the English minister Edmund Massey, who had famously declared inoculation the Devils work, citing Job 2:7: So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of the foot unto his crown. Near the front of the new, Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $12, The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic that Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics, Dried Lake Reveals New Statue on Easter Island. He later repudiated the pamphlet, burning all but one of the copies still in his possession. Well your mama saw no misspelled words and I have not gone back to see, lol. Year after year Deborah stoically endured the snubbing, even after she had a stroke in early spring 1769. In London, Franklin discovered that the governor had lied to him. Created by Meks. Josiah Franklin was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire, England, on December 23, 1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith and farmer, and his wife, Jane White. If youre Having the goutI wish I was near enough to rub it with a light hand.. 1744 . Those things are trueup to a point. His sons were William Franklin and Francis Folger Franklin, and his daughter was Sarah Franklin Bache. Without industry and frugality nothing will do, and with them everything. At the same time, he also pityd Deborahs unfortunate Situation. He noted that she was generally dejected, seldom cheerful, and avoided Company, presumably including his. They could set up house on Market Street as a common-law marriage. Benjamin Franklin Love, Marriage, Order Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson (2003). How I long to see you, she wrote to him in 1770, after 40 years of marriage and five years into his second trip to London. He is an incomplete Animal. Franklin had endured sadnessthe death of his brother James, the man who had taught him printing and with whom he had only recently reconciledand a serious health scare, his second serious attack of pleurisy. Ha, ha..I think lots of older women are not so good in this day & age..bah humbug to waiting on a man & confounding ones self to be pleasing to him.. They seem to do very well in business and . Updates? He would later admit that by degrees he forgot my engagements with Miss Read. In declaring this a great Erratum of his life, he took responsibility for Deborahs ill-fated marriage to a potter named John Rogers. (Franklin denied it, writing he would do nothing unworthy the Character of an honest Man, and one that loves his Family.) But as month after month passed with no word on Benjamins voyage home, it became clear that history was repeating itself. Benjamin Franklin (1819). Soft is good in most things, but not that. The Gazette of April 17, 1746, announced this pamphlet as Just Published. Charles R. Hildeburn assigned it to Franklin on the authority of a note, which he quoted as By Benjamin Franklin. Cookie Policy Benjamin Franklin Marriage, Masters The happy State of Matrimony is, undoubtedly, the surest and most lasting Foundation of Comfort and Love . 1743: Proposes a plan for an Academy, which is adopted 1749 and develops into the University of Pennsylvania. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. His 1742 ballad in praise of her, as Lemay points out, touched upon every aspect of her domestic skills except motherhoodeven though she had mothered William Franklin since infancy and, shortly after Frankys death, had taken in young James Franklin Jr., the son of Bens deceased brother. Benjamin Franklin Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. By now you already know that one of my favorite people in history is Benjamin Franklin. Rogers squandered Deborahs dowry and racked up big debts before disappearing. Those days from the present differ! A year later he bought the towns second newspaper operation, renamed and reworked it, and began making a success of the Pennsylvania Gazette. ..the Benjamin Schenck Mansion is supposedly one of the most haunted places in all of Indiana. Franklin finally left London for home three months after Deborah died. The Way to Wealth. All, who have seen my Grandson, agree with you in their accounts of his being an uncommonly fine Boy, he wrote, which brings often afresh to my Mind the Idea of my son Franky, tho now dead 36 Years, whom I have seldom seen equald in every thing, and whom to this Day I cannot think of without a Sigh.. , I would love to be in a room with Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin!!! (Who that woman was and why he couldnt or wouldnt marry her remain mysteries to this day.) At Keiths suggestion, Franklin returned to Boston to try to raise the necessary capital. In classic Franklin fashion, he doesnt say. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. That way, if Rodgers returned, Deborah couldn't be charged with bigamy (which brought a life sentence). But he emerged as one of the most outspoken inoculation advocates in the Colonies. As far as older woman and sex go, we never change. I have this thing with words spelled or used incorrectly. In a January 1772 letter to his sister Jane, he shared the emotions the boy stirred in himemotions he had hidden from his wife. Thus, as Franklin later wrote, the former couples mutual Affection was revived, and they were joined in a common-law marriage on September 1, 1730. His first enthusiasm was for poetry, but, discouraged with the quality of his own, he gave it up. Deborah assisted in the business by folding and stitching pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing old linen rags for paper makers. 1. 2. How Many People Signed the U.S. Constitution? 1.A Century of Printing: The Issues of the Press of Pennsylvania (Phila., 1885), no. LOL, Well, if I really told you what I thought you would have to ban my comment! From ancient Sumeria, it's 4,000 years old, and it was found on a cuneiform tablet, and it's a fart joke! His love for Franky had brought him closer to Deborah. Occasionally, however, they developed full-blown smallpox or other complications and died. Poor Richard's Almanack, p.39, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. Benjamin Franklin (2013). By 1736, Franklin had entered the most fulfilling period of his life so far. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman. . Franklin agreed to take custody of the babya gesture as admirable as it was uncommonbut that decision made his need for a wife urgent and finding one problematic. Follow your bliss. Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson (2003). Perhaps out of compassion, few of Franklins contemporaries questioned his explanation for not inoculating Franky or asked why he had gone so quiet on the procedure in the months before his son died. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. Well today I am going to share something a little different. Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day. Deborah left him and moved back in with her mother. So Franky probably wasnt a particularly sickly child. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends, Benjamin Franklin (2004). In August 1737, less than a year after Frankys death, he lashed out at her for mishandling a sale in their store. Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in colonial Boston. How Many of the Signers of the U.S. Constitution Were Enslavers? B.R. But a few weeks later, the stranger became a boarder in the Read home. The Benjamin Schenck Mansion Bed and Breakfast. SOURCES Deborah Read Benjamin Franklin Wikipedia: Benjamin Franklin Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin But he had survived, and at age 30 was, as his biographer J.A. For the last 10 years of their 44-year marriage Read stayed in Philadelphia while Franklin spent all his time in Europe. A few months later she pressed him: I hope you will not stay longer than this fall.. Benjamin had a common-law marriage with Deborah Read, until her death. 1731-1775. [Benjamin Rush], in the copy belonging to the Library Company of Philadelphia.1 Paul L. Ford and Carl Van Doren accepted this attribution.2 However, the Library Companys copy belonged in fact to James Read of Reading, who acquired it in 1774; and the inscription, in Reads hand, actually reads By Mr. Franklin (the printer of it) I believe. The boy that seemed so mature because he was very distant during courtship may continue to be distant after marriage as well; if a wife is then looking for a closer and warmer relationship, she will spend the rest of her married life feeling cheated of that closeness. If you purchase an item through these links, we receive a commission. Benjamin and Deborah Franklin spent all but two of their final 17 years apart. When a me limbs were soft an tender. For more on the Daylight Saving debate, visit ProCon.org. Franklin was born in 1706 in Boston on a Sunday, which for the Puritans was reason enough for him to be morally weak; they believed that any child born on the Sabbath was conceived on the. Two weeks after that report, the Gazette reprinted a detailed description of the procedure from the authoritative Chamberss Cyclopaedia. the United States, and research and development projects to bring historical records to the After expressing his regret over having failed to inoculate Franky, he added: This I mention for the Sake of Parents, who omit that Operation on the Supposition that they should never forgive themselves if a Child died under it; my Example showing that the Regret may be the same either way, and that therefore the safer should be chosen., Franklin took the blame for not inoculating Franky, just as he took the blame for Deborahs disastrous first marriage. 7. In 1730, when Boston had another outbreak, he used his own newspaper to promote inoculation in Philadelphia because he suspected the disease would spread south. Deborah Read, who he had courted before going to England, had married Roger Potter during his absence. 6. They did consummate their marriage and have a child. If God expected me to stay married just so that I could say I was married, then he would not be the God of love that I know Him to be. And as far as an older woman being grateful that a man might take an interest in her, I think it is just the opposite. Those goolden days when I were yong, There he made a shallow incision in the patients arm and deposited material from the vial. This was perhaps a nice justification for his self-indulgent behaviour in London and his ignoring of Deborah, to whom he had written only once. Are You. Not until December 30 did he break his silence, in a stunning 137-word note at the end of that weeks Gazette. It seemed that whenever he decided to settle down, Franklin would have his pick of a wife. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine The inoculation issue was over, but Franklin let his anger boil over in other ways, and this is one example. Both provide an interesting view of life in the 1700s, particularly the use of the English language. Franklin, Benjamin Date 17 April 1746 Reference Cite as " [Reflections on Courtship and Marriage, 17 April 1746]," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-03-02-0030. At some point she was told that Rogers had died in the West Indies, but proving his deathwhich would have freed Deborah to remarry formallywas impractically expensive and a long shot besides. I certainly agree with you about misused or misspelled words. 3, January 1, 1745, through June 30, 1750, ed. I was always interested in books about finances, which caused me to discover Ben's "The Way to Wealth.". Marriage is the proper Remedy. There was no money waiting, not for equipment, not even for his return passage. 4. But there are plenty of real-life anecdotes as well. Benjamin Franklin said, "Be assured, a Woman's Power, as well as Happiness, has no other Foundation but . No desirable young woman with a dowry would want to marry a man with a bastard infant son. Poor Richard's Almanack, p.41, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. "The Completed Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin". Franklin was certainly grateful to be married, but treated his wife more like a roommate than a helpmate in life. He flat out denied such rumors, claiming he was an honest husband, even if he was not a loving one. V rokoch 1779 - 1785 psobil ako prv americk vyslanec vo Franczsku (nahradil ho Thomas Jefferson ). One of the most memorable scenes of the Autobiography is the description of his arrival on a Sunday morning, tired and hungry. Families were not quick to give dowries to men with an illegitimate child, but Deborah Read's family was. Marriage is the most natural state of man, and. It depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality: that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Privacy Statement In 1722 he wrote a series of 14 essays signed Silence Dogood in which he lampooned everything from funeral eulogies to the students of Harvard College. Wherein a Practicable Plan is laid down for Obtaining and Securing Conjugal Felicity. Deborah Read, who he had courted before going to England, had married Roger Potter during his absence. Benjamin Franklin, also called Ben Franklin, pseudonym Richard Saunders, (born January 17 [January 6, Old Style], 1706, Boston, Massachusetts [U.S.]died April 17, 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.), American printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. Fifteen-year-old Deborah, standing at the door of her familys house on Market Street, laughed at the awkward ridiculous Appearance of the bedraggled 17-year-old stranger trudging down the street with a loaf of bread under each arm and his pockets bulging with socks and shirts. Many biographers and historians have followed suit, accepting at face value that Franky was simply too sick for inoculation. Franky was still Deborahs only child (the Franklins daughter, Sarah, would not be born for seven more years) and the legitimizing force in her common-law marriage. A doctor used a scalpel and a quill to take fluid from smallpox vesicles on the skin of a person in the throes of the disease. Your email address will not be published. Husband of Deborah (Read) Franklin married 1 Sep 1730 [location unknown] Descendants Father of William Franklin , Francis Folger Franklin and Sarah (Franklin) Bache Died 17 Apr 1790 at age 84 in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States of America The two young men enjoyed the theatre and the other pleasures of the city, including women. What would Benjamin Franklin say about the Purkapile's marriage? Benjamin Franklin had two sons and one daughter. Frank Benjamin Grouard (also known as Frank Gruard and Benjamin Franklin Grouard) (September 20, 1850 - August 15, 1905) was a Scout and interpreter for General George Crook during the American Indian War of 1876.
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