The Amazing Mr. Franklin by Ruth Ashby

Author:Ruth Ashby [Ashby, Ruth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781561457441
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2004-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

HEALTHY, WEALTHY, AND WISE

When the Library Company was formed in 1732, Franklin was twenty-eight years old. For the next fourteen years, he devoted himself to building up his business and reputation. By the time he was forty-two, he had made enough money to retire from printing and devote himself to his many other interests. It was an astounding accomplishment.

After Ben retired, he tried to keep to a set schedule. His day started early, at 5 A.M. He liked to exercise in the early morning, perhaps going the few short blocks down to the Delaware River for a swim. All his life Franklin believed in fresh air and warm baths. This was unusual in an age in which most people thought frequent baths were unnecessary—and probably unhealthy!

After dressing, he read for an hour or two. Now that he had steady access to new books, he feasted on them. Finally he had the chance to make up for his lack of formal education. He also took the opportunity to learn to read a few foreign languages—French, Italian, and Spanish—as well as polish up his Latin. The “first citizen” of Philadelphia was preparing to be a citizen of the world.

After breakfast, Ben went to his shop at eight o’clock. Like most tradesmen, he lived above his place of work. But by now he had other journeymen printers and apprentices to assist him. At noon he had lunch and read and worked on his accounts. Then, at two, he went back to the shop and worked until six. His evenings were spent conversing with friends and listening to or playing music. For at least an hour, Ben examined his behavior during the day. What good had he accomplished? Then, at ten in the evening, he went to bed.

In all this, at home and at work, Deborah Franklin was her husband’s partner. In their early years together, she cooked his meals, wove his clothes, and kept his shop. Franklin was especially proud of her thriftiness. If he could make the money, she could save it.

Sometimes, though, Debby was tempted to spend money on those she loved. In his autobiography, Franklin remembered that for breakfast they had bread and milk, which Franklin used to eat in a clay bowl with a pewter spoon. One morning she proudly served him in a china bowl with a silver spoon. Her husband, she declared, deserved china and silver as much as their neighbors!

The Franklins had other responsibilities, too. By 1732, Ben had two children. The first, William Franklin, was his son with another woman. No one has ever discovered who she was. William was born in 1731 and came to live with Ben and Debby. They raised him as their own.

In October 1732, the same month that the Library Company received its first shipload of books, Ben and Debby welcomed another son, Francis Franklin. Franklin adored both of his children. And he was devastated when four-year-old Franky came down with smallpox and died. Thirty-six years later he still remembered Franky, “whom to this day I cannot think of without a sigh.

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