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Benjamin Franklin Wife
Born around 1708 in Birmingham, England, to a respectable Quaker couple John and Sarah Reed, she was the youngest of three siblings. The Reed family immigrated to British America in 1711 and settled in Philadelphia, and little is known of their early life. John Reed, a prosperous building contractor, and carpenter, died in 1724.
Benajamin Franklin Wife Marriege
In October 1723, Reed met 17-year-old Benjamin Franklin at his Philadelphia home on Market Street. Franklin had recently moved to Philadelphia to find employment as a printer.
In his autobiography, he describes carrying three bloated rolls, one under each arm and a third. Reid, known as “Debbie”, was appalled by Franklin’s strange and comical appearance.
Reed and Franklin developed a love affair, renting Franklin a room in his family home. The courtship continued, and in 1724 Franklin proposed marriage. However, Reed’s mother, Mary, refused because of Franklin’s travel to London and financial instability.
Read and Franklin postponed their marriage plans and Franklin traveled to England. Upon arriving in London, Franklin decided to end the relationship. In a terse letter, he informed Read that he had no intention of returning to Philadelphia. Franklin subsequently became stranded in London after Sir William Keith failed to follow through on promises of financial support.
In 1725, Franklin’s mother convinced her to marry John Rogers, a British man who was identified as a carpenter or potter. The marriage fell apart due to Rogers’ inability to hold a job and incurred significant debt. After four months, Read left Rogers after learning he had a wife in England. Read refused to recognize Rogers as her husband.
Rogers used the marriage to further his own schemes and spent Read’s dowry. In December 1727, Rogers stole a slave and disappeared. Unconfirmed reports circulated that Rogers had traveled to the British West Indies, where he was killed in a fight. Franklin claimed that Rogers died in the British West Indies, but his true fate remains unknown.
In October 1727, Franklin returned to Philadelphia and reconnected with Elizabeth Read. Despite her initial intention to stay in London, she couldn’t legally remarry due to Pennsylvania’s laws, which wouldn’t grant a divorce based on desertion or claim to be a widow.
If Rogers returned after Read legally married Franklin, she faced a charge of bigamy, which could result in life imprisonment. To avoid legal issues, Read and Franklin chose a common-law marriage and announced their marriage on September 1, 1730.
They had two children, Francis Folger “Franky” (born 1732) and Sarah “Sally” (born 1743). Read also helped raise Franklin’s illegitimate son William, whose mother’s identity remains unknown.
Later Years And Death
Benjamin Franklin, a successful printer, publisher, and writer, was appointed the first postmaster of Philadelphia in the late 1750s. He was heavily involved in social and political affairs, leading to the establishment of the United States.
Franklin embarked on numerous trips to Europe, but his wife, Read, refused due to fear of ocean travel. Despite her limited education, Read managed her husband’s businesses, maintained their home, cared for their children, and attended Quaker Meetings.
Benjamin Franklin tried to persuade Rid but Rid refused to listen to him when Benjamin Franklin returned from Philadelphia in November 1762. and some 2 years later Franklin in November 1764
He went back to Europe again and stayed there for ten years and then Reed and Franklin never met again.
In 1768, Reid suffered a stroke that severely impaired his speech and memory. Despite his position, Franklin did not return to Philadelphia after completing his diplomatic duties.
Reid wrote a letter to Franklin in November 1769, stating that his stroke, declining health, and depressed mental state were the causes of his unrelenting distress.
Franklin continued to write to Reid, but she ceased to correspond with her husband. Franklin inquired about his letters but he did not return home.
Read suffered a stroke in 1774, dying on December 19, 1774, in Philadelphia. Franklin was buried next to her in 1790.
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