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of the present age;---all the operations of nature
he seems to understand, ---the very heavens obey him, and the
Clouds yield up their Lightning to be imprisoned in his rod."
Delegate William Pierce, Farrand's Records of the
Federal Convention, 1787
|
 Born |
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 Abiah Folger [Franklin] of Nantucket.
|
| Education |
Attended
one year of grammar school and briefly had a private tutor; apprenticed
at father's tallow shop and later learned the printing trade; started
his first newspaper (New England Courant in 1721) before moving
to Philadelphia to open a print shop. |
| Religion |
Raised
Presbyterian, but did not actively practice in adult life. |
| Family |
At
the age of 24 married Deborah Read on September 1, 1730; they had
three children: William Franklin (1729 or 1730), Francis Folger
Franklin (1732), and Sarah "Sally" Franklin (1743). |
| Accomplishments |
Purchased
the Pennsylvania Gazette (1729)
Published Poor Richard's Almanack (1732-57)
Clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly
(1736-51)
Deputy Postmaster of Philadelphia (1737-53)
Invented the Franklin stove (1741)
Founded the American Philosophical Society (1743)
Pennsylvania Assembly (1751-64)
Founded what became the University of Pennsylvania (1751)
Deputy Postmaster General for the colonies (1753-74)
Commissioner, Albany Congress (1754)
Agent in England for Pennsylvania (1764-75), Georgia (after 1768),
New Jersey (after 1769), and Massachusetts (after 1770)
Second Continental Congress (1775-76)
Postmaster General of the United States (1775-76)
Agent of the United States to France
(1776-85)
President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania (1785-88)
President, The Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition
of Slavery (1787-90)
Delegate, Constitutional Convention (1787) |
| Died |
April
17, 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he is buried at Christ
Church. |
| Last
Words
| "A
dying man can do nothing easy." |
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