Last of two parts
Following up on the extraordinary life of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, I wanted to learn about his common-law wife, Deborah Read Franklin. How did this woman interest him time and time again, even though separations kept them apart for many years at a time and once for a straight 10 years when Franklin lived in Europe?
Who was the woman content to live in his shadow and serve this great man as a good wife and good mother?
Deborah Read was born around 1708 in Birmingham, England to John and Sarah Reed, a well-respected Quaker couple. The Read family immigrated to America in 1711 and settled in Philadelphia.
She met the 17-year-old Benjamin Franklin in October 1723 when he walked past the Read home on Market Street one morning. At that time he was carrying, “three great puffy rolls” and because he had no pockets, he carried one roll under each arm and was eating the third.
Read was standing in the doorway of her home and was amused by the sight of Franklin’s “most awkward ridiculous appearance,” according to her description. A romance soon developed. In 1724 Franklin proposed. However, Read’s mother, Mary, would not consent to the marriage. She cited Franklin’s pending trip to London and financial instability. Franklin went to England and decided to end his relationship with Deborah.
Deborah’s mother persuaded her to marry John Rogers, a British man who had been variously a carpenter and a potter. They were married in 1725, but the marriage quickly fell apart because Rogers could not keep a job and had a large amount of debt prior to their marriage. Four months after they wed, Read left Rogers when she heard that Rogers had a wife in England. In 1717 Rogers stole a slave and disappeared. Unconfirmed reports circulated that Rogers had made his way to the British West Indies where he was killed in a fight.
Franklin returned to Philadelphia in October 1727. He and Deborah resumed their relationship and decided to marry. However, she was not able to legally remarry. At that time the Province of Pennsylvania law would not grant a divorce on the grounds of desertion. They would face a charge of bigamy which carried the penalty of 39 lashings on the bare back and life imprisonment with hard labor.
To avoid these legal issues, they decided upon a common-law marriage. September 1, 1730 the couple held a ceremony for friends and family when they announced that they would live as husband and wife. They had a son, Francis, and daughter, Sarah, and William, an illegitimate son of Franklin, raised in their home.
Deborah ran the home and helped him in the shop. She wasted no money “on finery, idle servants or costly food.” They lived happily together with much laughter and gaiety in the house. Benjamin was a great one for making jokes and witty puns. When the whole town slept, Benjamin sat at his desk and wrote Poor Richard’s proverbs.
In 1768 Deborah had a series of strokes that caused poor health and depression. December 14, 1774 she suffered a final stroke and died December 19. She was buried at Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia. Franklin was buried next to her upon his death in 1790.