The wife of Thomas Godfrey, a mathematician who lived in part of Franklins house with his family and Junto member, tried to make a match between Franklin and a relatives daughter. , Yes, we have come a looooooooooooooooooong way! , I first read this letter decades ago, when I was still a young man, & found it delightfully funny but with more than a few kernels of wisdom now, when some might consider me to be the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars, I cant completely agree with Franklin in regard to marriage making one compleat, but much of the advice in the letter makes sense certainly from the point of view of a cultured 18th century man & every re-reading makes me laugh at Franklins very modern sense of humor! He had planned to use the dowry to pay the remaining debt for the printing house which added to 100 pounds. And though he clearly doubted essential doctrines of Christianity, such as Christ's divinity, he maintained vital relationships with evangelical friends and relatives including Whitefield and his sister Jane Mecom, his closest sibling. But we cant understand him fully without considering why he treated his wife so shabbily at the end of her life. But the rest, spot on, Ben, baby. Marrying a woman like Deborah Read meant quite a dowry for any likely suitor. Benjamin must have suspected that when Sarah Read, Deborahs widowed mother, learned that he had neither a press nor guaranteed work, she would seek another suitor for her daughter. Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in colonial Boston. Because the Compunction is less. An undutiful daughter will prove an unmanageable wife. During our investigation, Nancy reveals why we should explore the life of Benjamin Franklin through the women in his life; Deborah Read Franklin and her marriage to Benjamin Franklin; And, details about the marriage of Benjamin and Deborah Franklin, including the many years they spent apart from each other between 1757 and 1775. In a January 1772 letter to his sister Jane, he shared the emotions the boy stirred in himemotions he had hidden from his wife. Despite what late night infomercials claim, the . Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson (2003). 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. Franklin had ten siblings and seven step-siblings. This article is a selection from the September issue of Smithsonian magazine. He had never been much interested in children, but after the birth of Francis Folger Franklin, on October 20, 1732, he wrote that they were the most delightful Cares in the World. The boy, whom he and Deborah nicknamed Franky, gave rise to a more ebullient version of Franklin than he had allowed the world to see. Oh my! Created by Meks. 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. Powered by WordPress. V rokoch 1779 - 1785 psobil ako prv americk vyslanec vo Franczsku (nahradil ho Thomas Jefferson ). As far as older woman and sex go, we never change. . He also . A person, whether they are male or female, can be a whole and evolved person without being married! Returned to Philadelphia, the painting took on a nearly magical significance a decade later, when family members noticed an uncanny resemblance between Sarah Franklins 1-year-old son, Benjamin Franklin Bache, and the Franky of the portrait. Benjamin Franklin Quotes. Poor Richard's Almanack, p.17, Barnes & Noble Publishing. After living together for six months, Ben brought home his illegitimate son, William, whom Deborah was forced to raise. Stephen Coss Mulligan: Franklin, of course, never sent "Fart . Benjamin Franklin bol spoluautorom textu. Your email address will not be published. Weel, a but one. American author, scientist, and statesman. How did a man who understood better than most the relative safety and efficacy of inoculation choose wrong? And we can imagine that for Deborah it was even worse. Im never going to get that picture out of my head now! Benjamin Franklin Marriage Letter From an Original Letter to John Alleyne, Esquire, As it Appears in the Pennsylvania Packet, October 30, 1789 Long before Dear Abby and Ann Landers, Benjamin Franklin was offering advice to the lovelorn. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman. I think it is just the opposite Oh yeah!!! An outbreak in the city that year led to the first widespread inoculation trial in Western medicineand bitter controversy. One of the most memorable scenes of the Autobiography is the description of his arrival on a Sunday morning, tired and hungry. He had three children, including William Franklin, who was Colonial Governor of New Jersey, from 1763 to 1776. The grateful part, Im not so sure! Now you may argue with God but not me. In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklins amazing life, showing how he helped to forge the American national identity and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century. The conventional wisdom is that their marriage was doomed from the beginning, by differences in intellect and ambition, and by its emphasis on practicality over love; Franklin was a genius and needed freedom from conventional constraints; Deborahs fear of ocean travel kept her from joining her husband in England and made it inevitable that they would drift apart. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Just weeks into Deborahs marriage, word reached Philadelphia that Rogers had another wife in England. In London, Franklin discovered that the governor had lied to him. But rather than focusing on the devastation caused by the disease, Franklins coverage dealt primarily with the success of smallpox inoculation. Deborahs famous temper might be traced to her frustration with him, as well as the general unfairness of her situation. 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. Franklins initial reply, in June 1770, was detached, even dismissive: I rejoice much in the Pleasure you appear to take in him. 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. 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. 5. Franklin was certainly grateful to be married, but treated his wife more like a roommate than a helpmate in life. He had not been inoculated. He found her a good and faithful helpmate. Benjamin Franklin's father, Josiah Franklin, was a tallow chandler, soaper, and candlemaker. 171-3. The argument that Franky was sickly is based primarily on one fact: Nearly a year passed between his birth and his baptism. The couple had two children. He learned to read very early and had one year ingrammar schooland another under a private teacher, but his formal education ended at age 10. Thankfully we have come a long way in our thinking since the time Benjamin Franklin wrote that letter 268 years ago! 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. Benjamin Franklin's Favorite Sister Benjamin Franklin, the tenth of Josiah Franklin's sons, was six years old when Jane, the seventh daughter, was born on March 27, 1712. | READ MORE. John and Abigail Adams had a storybook union that spanned half a century. A bachelor in his twenties was frowned upon and Franklin at age 24 was set to find a wife. Deborah Read, who he had courted before going to England, had married Roger Potter during his absence. 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. 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. About Franciss death Franklin wrote in his autobiography: In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the smallpox taken in the common way. Franklin apparently proposed marriage, but she declined in deference to her deceased husband. Benjamin Franklin, perhaps the most recognized American polymath, also participated in the music domain during his lifetime and, in addition to the knowledge of several instruments and commentaries on music theory, left a legacy as an instrument maker and a composer. Possibly he was relieved. 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. Possibly he just lost his nerve. Among his findings was the fact that the positive and negative charges, or states of electrification of bodies, had to occur in exactly equal amountsa crucial scientific principle known today as the law of conservationof charge. The procedure was a precursor to modern-day vaccination. Marriage and Children Deborah Read and Benjamin Franklin entered a common law agreement on September 1, 1730. Thus much for my Paradox. Benjamin Franklin made important scientific contributions regarding the nature of electricity. 1.A Century of Printing: The Issues of the Press of Pennsylvania (Phila., 1885), no. * I'm Constantly Grateful For The Bad And Good Times. But a few weeks later, the stranger became a boarder in the Read home. (Franklin immortalized his wifes fiery personality in various fictional counterparts, including Bridget Saunders, wife of Poor Richard. But there are plenty of real-life anecdotes as well. 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. As for the letter, it seems to me he had a lot of experience to be able to go on with so much knowledge. Through its grants program, the NHPRC supports a wide range of activities to Noteworthy is Franklin's involvement in promoting the music of two of the . Your email address will not be published. No one yet understood that it spread when people inhaled an invisible virus. Rogers squandered Deborahs dowry and racked up big debts before disappearing. It is the Man and Woman united that make the compleat human Being. Such women, he wrote, have sound and healthy Constitutions, produce vigorous Offspring, are active in the Business of the Family, special good Housewives, and very Careful of their Husbands Interest. Its unlikely that he would have included produce vigorous Offspring if his son, then 9 months old, had been sickly. After six months, he and the young woman were in love. When Benjamin Franklin was born on 6 January 1706, in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, his father, Josiah Franklin Sr., was 48 and his mother, Abiah Lee Folger, was 38. . When Benjamin Franklin Ware was born on 21 October 1924, in Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri, United States, his father, Ernest Franklin Ware, was 19 and his mother, Opal Tressie Neal, was 15. From ancient Sumeria, it's 4,000 years old, and it was found on a cuneiform tablet, and it's a fart joke! Those days from the present differ! But still I advise you to marry directly; being sincerely Your affectionate Friend. Not until his ship was well out at sea did he realize that Governor Keith had not delivered the letters of credit and introduction he had promised. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. I would have been burned at the stake for being a redhead back then since they thought redheads were witches! Because the Sin is less. I also suppose good ole Ben never heard of vaginal atrophy.Still..fun to read.. LOL LOL LOL Cindy!!! the state in which you will find solid happiness. He was buried beside Deborah at Christ Church Cemetery in Philadelphia. Given Franklins notorious frugality, the commission was an extraordinary indulgencemost tradesmen didnt have portraits made of themselves, let alone their children. Soft is good in most things, but not that. Deborah simply moved into Franklins home and printing house at what is now 139 Market Street. In public, Franklin himself took the blame for not inoculating Franky. 8) Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. 1744 . This letter was even funnier to me because Benjamin Franklin misspelled words that I restrained myself from correcting. Benjamin Franklin Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. Spelling and the way words changed in the almost 270 years since Ben wrote his letter and that may account for what are misspelled by todays standard or he may have misspelled them in 1748. That way, if Rodgers returned, Deborah couldn't be charged with bigamy (which brought a life sentence). The first was Francis Folger Franklin born October 1732. Biographers and historians tend to shy away from his married life, perhaps because it defies idealization. LOL! It must be of Use to your Health, the having such an Amusement. At times he seemed impatient with Deborah: I am glad your little Grandson recovered so soon of his Illness, as I see you are quite in Love with him, and your Happiness wrapt up in his; since your whole long Letter is made up of the History of his pretty Actions. Did he resent the way she had anointed Benny the new Franky? Sabin wrote me he had ascertained that Franklin was the author. The editors do not know what evidence Sabin had, but their judgment is that the pamphlets style is too unlike Franklins to ascribe it to him. . Thank you for providing this, it was fun reading, with some valid points. At 12 he was apprenticed to his brother James, a printer. 1731-1813. But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones. Im glad you seemed to enjoy it as much as me! 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. Lemay, one of Franklins best biographers, is representative. "Marriage is the most natural state of man, and . 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. Also, if the mate is not good, even the sex is bad!!! It's long been alleged that, in private, he labeled blame upon Deborah. One dark spot in his life was his marriage. 1. Legend has it that the mansion was built on the ruins of an older structure that was lost in a fire that not only consumed it, but a couple that was trapped inside. Benjamin's parents wanted him to be a clergy By David Martin - Wikimedia Growing up, Franklin's parents wanted him to be a priest. But one of the most eloquentand least expectedcommentators on the subject is Benjamin Franklin. When Franky was finally baptized, his father just happened to be on an extended trip to New England. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy. Many biographers and historians have followed suit, accepting at face value that Franky was simply too sick for inoculation. Well today I am going to share something a little different. Benjamin Franklin was bedridden during the final year of his life, escaping severe pain only by the use of opium, and he died on April 17, 1790, at age 84. Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. Poor Richard's Almanack, p.39, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. Benjamin Franklin (2013). He was right that the older a woman gets the more wisdom and compassion she has acquired merely by the fact that she has lived and experienced more of life than a younger woman has. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. 1. Franklin and Madame Helvetius were both in advanced age, and it would be highly unlikely that she could have produced children even if they sustained an intimate relationship. Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [O.S. LOL. DIED AT AGE 84 Years 3 Months 0 Days DEATHDATE April 17, 1790 DEATHPLACE Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America CAUSE OF DEATH Pleurisy NATIONALITY American PROFESSION Politician ( American Politician) We feature smart, groundbreaking research and well-written narratives from expert writers. I thought so too. Everyone, she wrote, thinks as much as though it had been drawn for him. For the better part of the next two years Deborahs letters to Benjamin focused on the health, charm and virtues of the grandson who resembled her dead son. All rights reserved. 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. Cookie Settings, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Left: Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo; Right: Public Domain, or survived a case of naturally acquired smallpox at some point is unknowntheres no evidence on record. Privacy Statement The Truth About Benjamin Franklin's Relationship With His Wife. . Records Commission (NHPRC) is part of the National Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stord with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (Simon & Shuster, New . They entered a common-law agreement which protected them from bigamy if her runaway husband returned. What would Benjamin Franklin say about the Purkapile's marriage? There was no ceremony. He was the tenth son of soap maker, Josiah Franklin. William Franklin was born Feb. 22, 1762, followed by the birth of Francis on Oct. 20, 1732 and . 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. Stephen Coss is the author of the book The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic that Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics. Are You. You can not pluck roses without fear of thorns, Nor enjoy a fair wife without danger of horns. Benjamin Franklin said, "Be assured, a Woman's Power, as well as Happiness, has no other Foundation but . Theoretically, the customer could claim to have purchased a lesser grade and underpay what he owed. If you want to be loved, love and be loveable. Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine He came to be regarded as the greatest promoter of smallpox inoculation in the British colonies. 6. 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. The Benjamin Schenck Mansion Bed and Breakfast. In classic Franklin fashion, he doesnt say. Did I say a? (Posthumous painting. January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts; son of Josiah Franklin (tallow chandler and soap boiler who immigrated from England in 1683 to escape religious persecution) and . January 6, 1705 [1 - April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. 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. A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials. His sons were William Franklin and Francis Folger Franklin, and his daughter was Sarah Franklin Bache. A Quick Biography of. Did I say a? I also find his writings a bit humorous. But Franklin himself hinted that something else delayed his action and perhaps cost Franky his life. The Way to Wealth. The Gazette reported that of the Several Hundreds of people inoculated in the Boston area that year, about four had died. In other words, Franklin's faith was an enigma. * Why I Got PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) Since I'm Not In The Military, * Top 41 Lessons Blogging Teaches About Life, * What Is Empty Nest Syndrome And The Words She Said As Comfort. 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. Deborah Franklin suffered another stroke on December 14, 1774, and died five days later. A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in that State of Union.

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