Your email address will not be published. Loved this letter. The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market. 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. Franklin didnt return Benny Bache to his parents for nine years. What do you think about Benjamin Franklins wisdom about marriage, sex and the older woman? Benjamin Franklin. 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 1730, when Boston had another outbreak, he used his own newspaper to promote inoculation in Philadelphia because he suspected the disease would spread south. Francis Folger Franklin. If youre Having the goutI wish I was near enough to rub it with a light hand.. Thats a great point! In London Franklin quickly found employment in his trade and was able to lend money to Ralph, who was trying to establish himself as a writer. Benjamin and Deborah Franklin spent all but two of their final 17 years apart. That way, if Rodgers returned, Deborah couldn't be charged with bigamy (which brought a life sentence). Thank you for providing this, it was fun reading, with some valid points. Most likely, it was a disagreement with Deborah over inoculation. I also suppose good ole Ben never heard of vaginal atrophy.Still..fun to read.. LOL LOL LOL Cindy!!! Notes: 1974-1975 TV miniseries "The Lives of Benjamin Franklin" Events. That didn't end well, as Potter absconded to the West Indies to escape paying some debts. Occasionally, however, they developed full-blown smallpox or other complications and died. 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. 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. Some say the longer daylight hours promote safety and help the economy. I long regretted bitterly and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. After that, the two were together only seven times in their . Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. 4. Stephen Coss is the author of the book The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic that Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics. He had three children, including William Franklin, who was Colonial Governor of New Jersey, from 1763 to 1776. 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. It's long been alleged that, in private, he labeled blame upon Deborah. Then he had his own romantic calamity: He learned that a young woman of his acquaintance was pregnant with his child. Franklins initial reply, in June 1770, was detached, even dismissive: I rejoice much in the Pleasure you appear to take in him. Add to Favorite List. In 1776 he insisted that the 7-year-old accompany him on his diplomatic mission to France. The Gazette reported that of the Several Hundreds of people inoculated in the Boston area that year, about four had died. Im sure it has nothing to do with my mother or daughter. William Franklin. John and Abigail Adams had a storybook union that spanned half a century. In 1721 Cotton Matherthe man who had stumbled upon the idea of inoculation and then pushed it on the doctors of Boston, declaring it infalliblehad stalled for two weeks before approving his teenage sons inoculation, knowing all the while that Sammy Mathers Harvard roommate was sick with smallpox. Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day. 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. But the rest, spot on, Ben, baby. Deborah Read and Benjamin Franklin entered a common law agreementon September 1, 1730. Prose was another matter. But he never came. Benjamin Franklin Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. 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) Stephen Coss 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.. Its more likely, though, that Benjamin and Deborah disagreed over inoculation for their son. 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? But he emerged as one of the most outspoken inoculation advocates in the Colonies. Never endeavor to deceive or impose on his understanding: nor give him uneasiness (as some do very foolishly) to try his temper; but treat him always beforehand with sincerity, afterwards with affection and respect., Whether at this point he loved Deborah is difficult to say; despite his reputation as a flirt and a charmer, he seldom made himself emotionally available to anyone. Franklins enthusiasm for smallpox inoculation dated to 1721, when he was a printers apprentice to James in Boston. The first was Francis Folger Franklin born October 1732. In 1721 James Franklin founded a weekly newspaper, the New-England Courant, to which readers were invited to contribute. A few months later she pressed him: I hope you will not stay longer than this fall.. Smallpox was the most feared distemper in Colonial America. Franklin was certainly grateful to be married, but treated his wife more like a roommate than a helpmate in life. Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. 1743: Proposes a plan for an Academy, which is adopted 1749 and develops into the University of Pennsylvania. Through its grants program, the NHPRC supports a wide range of activities to If originally she had believed Franky would bring her closer to Benjamin, now she just hoped the boy would help her keep hold of him. ..the Benjamin Schenck Mansion is supposedly one of the most haunted places in all of Indiana. Your email address will not be published. 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. The happy State of Matrimony is, undoubtedly, the surest and most lasting Foundation of Comfort and Love . LOL. Thankfully we have come a long way in our thinking since the time Benjamin Franklin wrote that letter 268 years ago! 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.. Growdon, Esq, had been inoculated without incident. 8) Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. "Fart Proudly" is just another great example of that tradition, that universal reference point that we all share. Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [O.S. Thus much for my Paradox. Soon she took in the infant son her new husband had fathered with another woman and began running a small stationery store on the first floor. 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. Late in 1722 James Franklin got into trouble with the provincial authorities and was forbidden to print or publish the Courant. The disease was fatal in more than 30 percent of all cases and even more deadly to children. LOL. Weel, a but one. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy. He, meanwhile, became more eligible by the year. January 6, 1705 [1 - April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Benjamin Franklin Now you may argue with God but not me. Along the way, Franklin came to see marriage as more of an act of business (via Smithsonian Magazine). 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. . . Those days from the present differ! A person, whether they are male or female, can be a whole and evolved person without being married! He had planned to use the dowry to pay the remaining debt for the printing house which added to 100 pounds. One might not look at Benjamin Franklin and think sex icon, but standards for popular fan craze in Ben's day were not centered on physical . Journal of the American Revolution is the leading source of knowledge about the American Revolution and Founding Era. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly producd may be attended with much Inconvenience. 3. As far as older woman and sex go, we never change. Some months later, after a bitter quarrel, Benjamin secretly left home, sure that James would not go to law and reveal the subterfuge he had devised. , LOL!!! Archives. 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. 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. Paul L. Ford believed it was addressed to William Franklin; but William was only a lad of 14 or 15 in 1745. We feature smart, groundbreaking research and well-written narratives from expert writers. the Cause of all good Order in the World, and what alone preserves it from the utmost Confusion. 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. I wonder if he spelled them right for 1748 or if he was like my Mom and daughter! Francis and Sarah were born in his marriage to Deborah Read, while William was born out of wedlock. Franklin entered a common law marriage - a social contract which, after years of co-habitation, resulted in a . For one so young to assume the persona of a middle-aged woman was a remarkable feat, and Franklin took exquisite Pleasure in the fact that his brother and others became convinced that only a learned and ingenious wit could have written these essays. Leonard W. Labaree. The budding friendship between the two young people soon developed into mutual attraction. Lemay, one of Franklins best biographers, is representative. Follow your bliss. Artist and date unknown) Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. 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. 1523. His intention was to buy a printing press and type and return as quickly as possible. 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. Was it an attempt to lift Deborah out of debilitating grief? The couple had two children. 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. Ben Franklin was my first idol, when I was a young lad, & he remains one of my very favorite people wise, inventive, & ohh so witty! They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. ( 337 ) $9.99. 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 Privacy Statement 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. But Franklin himself hinted that something else delayed his action and perhaps cost Franky his life. (Franklin immortalized his wifes fiery personality in various fictional counterparts, including Bridget Saunders, wife of Poor Richard. They had a son, Francis, who died four years later from smallpox, and a . This event profoundly saddened the Franklins. The Redhead Riter is Witty, Intelligent & Addictive. 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 . I had a very food filled life. Whether he blamed Deborah, or blamed himself for listening to her, the hard feelings relating to the death of their beloved sonthe DELIGHT of all that knew him, according to the epitaph on his gravestoneappear to have ravaged their relationship. Though Deborah and Ben would enter into a common-law marriage that lasted over 40 years, they never officially wed. Those four decades held plenty of upset. When Franky was finally baptized, his father just happened to be on an extended trip to New England. Reflections on Courtship and Marriage: in Two Letters to a Friend. This I mention for the sake of the 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 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. Benjamin Franklin Schenck found in Indiana, Select Marriages Index, 1748-1993 Benjamin Franklin Schenck found in 1860 United States Federal Census Benjamin Franklin Schenck found in 1870 United States Federal Census Benjamin Franklin Schenck found in 1850 United States Federal Census Potential photos and documents Benjamin Franklin Schenck You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in your wife? Happiness Marriage Anniversary Man. I think it is just the opposite Oh yeah!!! Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. However, Benjamin Franklin was right and wrong about older women! How did a man who understood better than most the relative safety and efficacy of inoculation choose wrong? Addressing Frankys death in the Autobiography, he wrote: I long regretted bitterly & still regret that I had not given it [smallpox] to him by Inoculation. If he regretted not being able to give his son smallpox by inoculation, he would have said so. Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson (2003). Poor Richard's Almanack, p.17, Barnes & Noble Publishing. 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. Invents the open, or "Franklin," stove. Because the Compunction is less. Amazon.com: Benjamin Franklin: On Love, Marriage, and Other Matters (Audible Audio Edition): Benjamin Franklin, Adrian Cronauer, Recorded Books: Books Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Clearly Franklin believed he had had a choice and had chosen wrong. . Franklin started courting the girl and expected a large dowry for their marriage. Around the time they married Franklin took custody of an illegitimate child, William. B.R. But as in that earlier case, his public chivalry probably disguised his private beliefs. 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. Inoculation had proven successful after the 1721 outbreak in Boston when 5,889 Bostonians had smallpox, and 844 died of it. 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