I wonder if he spelled them right for 1748 or if he was like my Mom and daughter! Also, if the mate is not good, even the sex is bad!!! Reed was terrified of water and wouldn't cross the ocean; Franklin refused. And when Franklin sailed for London in 1757 he made no secret of his ambivalence about leaving his 14-year-old daughter with Deborah. 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. We tend to idealize our founding fathers. Thank you for providing this, it was fun reading, with some valid points. I also suppose good ole Ben never heard of vaginal atrophy.Still..fun to read.. LOL LOL LOL Cindy!!! (Who that woman was and why he couldnt or wouldnt marry her remain mysteries to this day.) But he might have had, as Franklin claimed, an unfortunately timed (and uncommonly drawn-out) case of dysentery throughout September, October and early November 1736. He was appointed the first postmaster of Philadelphia and was heavily involved in social and political affairs that would eventually lead to the establishment of the United States. She and Ben were never legally married. After that, the two were together only seven times in their . He was General Crook's lead scout at the Battle of the Rosebud participated in the Slim . 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. . An undutiful daughter will prove an unmanageable wife. , I would love to be in a room with Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin!!! Through its grants program, the NHPRC supports a wide range of activities to J R. Another note on the title page, made by Lloyd P. Smith, librarian of the Library Company, on May 26, 1880, reads, Jos. 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. More substantive evidence suggests the delay was due to Franklins oft-expressed antipathy to organized religion. Paraphrasing her husband, she wrote: A Quier of paper that my careless wife forgot to set down and now the careless thing dont know the prices so I must trust you., Benjamin also conspicuously overlooked, or even denigrated, Deborahs fitness as a mother. Benjamin Franklin Love, Marriage, Order Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson (2003). From the outset, his father hinted otherwise. 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. What do you think about Benjamin Franklins wisdom about marriage, sex and the older woman? A person, whether they are male or female, can be a whole and evolved person without being married! In October 1765, Deborah Franklin sent a gushing letter to her husband, who was in London on business for the Pennsylvania legislature. Franklin said as much many years later. Marriage is the proper Remedy. . The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy. Mulligan: Franklin, of course, never sent "Fart . Thats a great point! 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Her husband was thrilled. 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. He chronicles Franklin's tumultuous relationship with his illegitimate son and grandson, his practical marriage, and his flirtations with the ladies of Paris. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. He had not been inoculated. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. By the time the Philadelphia epidemic ended that July, 288 people were dead, but that total included only one of the approximately 50 people who had been inoculated. Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in colonial Boston. (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. In May 1771, on a kinder note, he wrote: I am much pleased with the little Histories you give me of your fine Boy.I hope he will be spared, and continue the same Pleasure and Comfort to you, and that I shall ere long partake with you in it., Over time, Benjamin, too, came to regard the grandson he had yet to lay eyes on as a kind of reincarnation of his dead son. If Deborah was the model for this fictional wife, as she seems to have been, its worth noting the authors rationale for preferring her type. 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. Yes, we do rock!!! Marriage is the proper Remedy. The inoculation issue was over, but Franklin let his anger boil over in other ways, and this is one example. How Many People Signed the U.S. Constitution? At some point in the year after Franky died, Benjamin commissioned a portrait of the boy. Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. The argument that Franky was sickly is based primarily on one fact: Nearly a year passed between his birth and his baptism. Destructive 'Super Pigs' From Canada Threaten the Northern U.S. Did an Ancient Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Chaos for Life on Earth 42,000 Years Ago? He immigrated to New York City, New York, United States in 1943. His father, Josiah, was a soap and candle maker from England who immigrated to Boston. 1. the United States, and research and development projects to bring historical records to the Benjamin Franklin was a printer, publisher, author, inventor, scientist, and diplomat. God made it this way, in his words he said woman is not without the man or man with out the woman. Benjamin's parents wanted him to be a clergy By David Martin - Wikimedia Growing up, Franklin's parents wanted him to be a priest. 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. Protect and keep contributing to your investment." -Karen Gordon Possibly he just lost his nerve. I love brainy people. Benjamin, now 16, read and perhaps set in type these contributions and decided that he could do as well himself. But he emerged as one of the most outspoken inoculation advocates in the Colonies. Your email address will not be published. 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. Even with those deathswhich doctors attributed to smallpox contracted before inoculationthe inoculation death rate was negligible compared with the fatality rate from naturally acquired smallpox. 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. Given Franklins notorious frugality, the commission was an extraordinary indulgencemost tradesmen didnt have portraits made of themselves, let alone their children. [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. 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.. A Note to our Readers William Franklin was born Feb. 22, 1762, followed by the birth of Francis on Oct. 20, 1732 and . 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. Deborah Read and Benjamin Franklin entered a common law agreementon September 1, 1730. Benjamin Franklin made important scientific contributions regarding the nature of electricity. His first enthusiasm was for poetry, but, discouraged with the quality of his own, he gave it up. His father thought him too young for such a venture, so Keith offered to foot the bill himself and arranged Franklins passage to England so that he could choose his type and make connections with London stationers and booksellers. Benjamin Franklin Marriage Eyes Half Open Your Related Authors Alexander Hamilton , Marjorie Taylor Greene , Robert Kennedy , Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , Kevin McCarthy , Lauren Boebert , Hillary Clinton , Matt Gaetz Info In 1730 he and Meredith were named Pennsylvanias official printers. My mother = The Energizer Bunny. . Every day we present the best quotes! 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. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. Franklins initial reply, in June 1770, was detached, even dismissive: I rejoice much in the Pleasure you appear to take in him. Noooo! But Benjamin Franklin did not ignore his son. 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. Marriage is the proper Remedy. In August 1737, less than a year after Frankys death, he lashed out at her for mishandling a sale in their store. 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.. Leo Lemay pointed out, better off financially and socially than any of his siblings and almost all of Philadelphias artisans. That fall, the Pennsylvania Assembly appointed him its clerk, which put him on the inside of the colonys politics for the first time. Ignoring the spelling errors, I still find this letter funny. 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. Families were not quick to give dowries to men with an illegitimate child, but Deborah Read's family was. 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. One popular image is that he was a free and easy libertineour founding playboy. 1744 . But he emerged as one of the most outspoken inoculation advocates in the Colonies. He made important contributions to science, especially in the understanding of electricity, and is remembered for the wit, wisdom, and elegance of his writing. Franklin laid into Deborah for the error, deeming her careless. 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. Deborahs shocked indignation is apparent in the entry she subsequently made in the shop book, in the place where she should have entered the details about the paper stock. 24 likes All Members Who Liked This Quote Swaruop 1 book view quotes Benjamin accepted the form and function of married lifeeven writing about it (skeptically) in his newspaperbut kept his wife at arms length. Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. Who Said It? Theoretically, the customer could claim to have purchased a lesser grade and underpay what he owed. 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. If one parent or near relation is against it, he noted in 1759, the other does not chuse to inoculate a child without free consent of all parties, lest in case of a disastrous event, perpetual blame should follow. He raised that dilemma again in 1788. We can not be whole without a mate for this enables us to practice everything together and have no sin involved. Together they are more likely to succeed in the World. Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. But he was married for 44 years. Whether the letter in question truly qualified as his first is unknown, since it has been lost. 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. 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. And when, in February 1731, Philadelphians began coming down with smallpox, Franklins backing became even more urgent. On September 1, 1730, he began a common-law marriage with Deborah Read, a carpenter's daughter. Poor Richard's Almanack, p.41, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. "The Completed Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin". Whether the United States keep Daylight Saving Time as first whimsically suggested by Benjamin Franklin is widely debated. Houghton LibraryHarvard College Library. As to Frankys general health, the best evidence is in Franklins 1733 piece in the Gazette celebrating a scolding wife. Benjamin Franklin We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. 5) Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterward. Benjamin's son William Franklin was most likely born around 1730 out of an illegitimate relationship that later became a common-law marriage. LOL I hope you have a great day! His mastery of the printers trade, of which he was proud to the end of his life, was achieved between 1718 and 1723. Sarah . In classic Franklin fashion, he doesnt say. Reading Benjamin Franklin's 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 isn't true. 9) He that is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else. American author, scientist, and statesman. I had a very food filled life. . Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. I have this thing with words spelled or used incorrectly. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends, Benjamin Franklin (2004). 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 Poor Richards Almanac, which he was preparing to print, Franklin countered: Thus (tho tis lifes greatpreservation), Significantly, this verse was Franklins only comment on smallpox or inoculation through the first four months of the new outbreak. On September 1, 1730 Benjamin Franklin married Deborah Read. 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 . Im never going to get that picture out of my head now! He considered becoming an itinerant teacher of swimming, but, when Thomas Denham, a Quaker merchant, offered him a clerkship in his store in Philadelphia with a prospect of fat commissions in the West Indian trade, he decided to return home. By 1726 Franklin was tiring of London. Im sure it has nothing to do with my mother or daughter. It is the most natural State of Man, and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. At only 16 years of age, Benjamin Franklin submitted columns to the newspaper about fashion, religion, women's rights, marriage, etc., under the faade of a widow named Mrs. . 3, January 1, 1745, through June 30, 1750, ed. A person, whether they are male or female, can be a whole and evolved person without being married! Benjamin's mother was Abiah Folger, the second wife of Josiah. The budding friendship between the two young people soon developed into mutual attraction. That September 29, a contingent of Indian chiefs representing the Six Nations was heading for Philadelphia to renegotiate a treaty when government officials halted them a few miles short of their destination and advised them to go no farther. 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. Those goolden days when I were yong, And we can imagine that for Deborah it was even worse. The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market. 2. The Gazette reported that of the Several Hundreds of people inoculated in the Boston area that year, about four had died. the Cause of all good Order in the World, and what alone preserves it from the utmost Confusion. 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