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Josiah &
Abiah Franklin
Parents of the world-famous
Benjamin Franklin, Josiah and Abiah Franklin's family tomb is
marked by this 21-foot stone obelisk which was donated by a group
of citizens in 1827 when the original marker fell into deep decay.
Both Josiah and Abiah ran a soap-and-candle business and
it was in the home above the shop that Ben and his twelve other
brothers and sisters grew up. Ben only lived in Boston until he
was sixteen, moving to Philadelphia after he quit his job as his
brother James' printing apprentice, citing both verbal and
physical abuse.
Ben went on to spend the majority of his
very productive adult life in the "City of Brotherly Love" and is
buried there. The loving inscription on the monument, the text of
which follows, is from the pen of none other than Ben Franklin
himself:
JOSIAH FRANKLIN AND ABIAH HIS
WIFE LIE HERE INTERRED
THEY LIVED LOVINGLY TOGETHER IN WEDLOCK
FIFTY-FIVE YEARS.
AND WITHOUT AN ESTATE OR ANY GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT,
BY CONSTANT LABOR AND HONEST INDUSTRY, MAINTAINED A LARGE FAMILY
COMFORTABLY, AND BROUGHT UP THIRTEEN CHILDREN AND SEVEN
GRANDCHILDREN, RESPECTABLY.
FROM THIS INSTANCE READER, BE
ENCOURAGED TO DILIGENCE IN THY CALLING, AND DISTRUST NOT
PROVIDENCE. HE WAS A PIOUS AND PRUDENT MAN; SHE A DISCREET AND
VIRTUOUS WOMAN.
THEIR YOUNGEST SON, IN FILIAL
REGARD TO THEIR MEMORY PLACES THIS STONE
J.F. BORN 1655, ___ DIED 1744,
AE. 89.
A.F. ______1667,
_______1752
___85 .
THE ORIGINAL INSCRIPTION HAVING
BEEN NEARLY OBLITERATED A NUMBER OF CITIZENS ERECTED THIS MONUMENT
AS A MARK OF RESPECT FOR THE ILLUSTRIOUS AUTHOR
Jimmy’s Tangents:
The 1827 Franklin Monument was
designed by Solomon Willard
of Bunker Hill Monument fame; he also designed
the Egyptian-revival
entrance in 1840
Ben was born on Milk Street
across from the Old South Meeting House (look for an embedded bust of Ben)
Mark Twain mentioned how on one
visit he had the chance to see two places where Ben Franklin was
born adding he would
have seen more but he was only in town for the afternoon
Ben's statue stands on the
original site of America's first public school, Boston Latin
He is the school's most famous dropout
Ben's brother James
established the first truly independent newspaper, The New England
Courant
Ben's statue was the first
portrait statue in Boston and can be seen standing in front of Old
City Hall
Sculptor William Greenough
revealed that he purposely made the 1855 statue so that the right
side of Ben’s mouth reflects the serious Ben of diplomacy, science
and political theory and the left side the satirical Ben of Mrs.
Silence Dogood and Poor Richard's Almanac
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