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William Franklin: New Jersey's Last Royal Governor William Franklin: New jersey's Last Royal Governor LARRY R. GERLACH ,,2,~~,~~Jlfif~~~Pit'.IJJ!l~~~f,~i,f;J,~}i. 1' <~Ko ~ ~ °"N"l I l '""' j0 ,'(, 1 ,~ ~'",' '~0" +,/ ;<,\"'~ '~ J f :r~ ,,!i,, ~'"''" 1,;:", ~ J:~"t, NEW JERSEY'S REVOLUTIONARY EXPERIENCE Larry R. Gerlach, Editor This series of publications is dedicated to the memory of Alfred E. Driscoll, governor of New Jersey from 1947 to 1954, in grateful tribute to his lifelong support of the study and teaching of the history of New Jersey and the United States. He was a member of the New Jersey Historical Commission from 1970 until his death on March 9, 1975. New jersey's Revolutionary Experience 13 William Franklin: New Jersey's La.st Royal Governor LARRY R. GERLACH New jersey Historical Commission Ubmry of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Gerlach, Larry R William Franklin: New Jersey's last royal governor. (New Jersey's Revolutionary experience; no. 13) Includes bibliographical references. SUMMARY: A biography of Benjamin Franklin's son, who as royal governor of New Jersey remained loyal to the British crown during the American revolution, securing his father's lifelong enmity. l. Franklin, William, 1730 (caH813. 2. Franklin, Benjamin, 1706- 1790. [l. Franklin, William, 1730 (caH813. 2. New Jersey-History­ Revolution, 1775-1783-Biography. 3. United States-History-Revo­ )t,µion, 1775-1783:...Biography. 4. Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790] [Series. E263N5N78 no. 13 [F137 F82] 974.9'02'0924 [BJ [92] 7543642 Price:$.50 Designed by Peggy Lewis and Lee R. Parks Copyright ©1975 by the New Jersey Historical Commission. All rights re­ served. Printed in the United States of America DIE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL COMMISSION is an official agency of the state of New Jersey, in the diVision of the State Library, Archives and History, Department of Education. Fred G. Burke, Commis· sioner, Ralph H. Lataille, Deputy Commissioner. 113 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08625 John T. Cunningham, Chairman • Henry N. Drewry, Vice-Chairman • Assemblyman William J. Bate • Kenneth Q. Jennings •Assemblyman Thomas H. Kean • Richard P. McCormick • Senator Anne C. Martindell • Eleanore N. Shuman• Donald A Sinclair• Senator James P. Vreeland, Jr. Ex Officio: DaVid C. Palmer, Acting State Librarian • DaVid N. Poinsett, State SuperVisor of Historic Sites. PUBLISHED WITH A GRANT FROM THE NEW JERSEY AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL CEIEBRATION COMMISSION Foreword New Jersey's Revolutionary Experience is a Bicentennial pamphlet series published by the New Jersey Historical Commis­ sion with a grant from the New Jersey Bicentennial Commission. The twenty-six numbers and two teachers' guides are intended to acquaint secondary school students and the general public with the state's history during the era of the American Revolution. Some titles treat aspects of the Revolution in New Jersey, while others show how important themes of the colonial period developed dur­ ing the revolutionary years; some bring together the results of existing scholarship, while others present the findings of original research; some are written by professional historians, and others by laymen whose investigations of Jersey history exceed avoca­ tion. Because the series is directed to a general audience, the pamphlets have no footnotes but contain bibliographical essays which offer suggestions for further reading. New Jersey's Revolutionary Experience is the product of a cooperative venture by numerous individuals and agencies ... On my behalf and that of the pamphlets' readers, I accord recognition and appreciation to the individual authors for their contributions to New Jersey history, to the New Jersey American Revolution Bicentennial Celebration Commission and the New Jersey Histor­ ical Commission for their support of the project, to Hank Simon, president, Trentypo, Inc., for his invaluable suggestions and cooperation in producing the series, and to the staff of the His­ torical Commission: Richard Waldron, Public Programs Coordi­ nator, who as project director supervised the series from com­ mencement to completion; Peggy Lewis, Chief of Publications and Information, and Lee R. Parks, Assistant Editor, who edited and designed each number; and William C. Wright, Associate Director, who contributed valuable suggestions at every stage of production. Larry R. Gerlach University of Utah William Franklin (1730[31]-1813), oil on canvas, 30 x 25, after 1780, by Mather Brown. From the New Jersey Sto.te Museum exhibition, ''.A Royal Province, New Jersey 1783- 1776. "(June 9-September 9, 1973). Collection of Mrs. J. Manderson Castle, Jr. The American Revolution was much more than a war for political independence from Great Britain. It was also a civil war fought by Americans of divergent political persuasions. The division between rebel and Royalist cut across ethnic, religious, economic, social and even blood lines. To illustrate the personal tragedy of families rent by the Revolution, Carl Becker, in his famous 1926 essay "The Spirit of '76," invented the fictional New Yorkers, Whig Jeremiah Wynkoop and his Tory father-in-law, Nicholas Van Shoickendinck. He might with better effect have chosen a factual portrayal of the Franklins of Philadelphia. Squarely behind the attempt to establish an independent republic was the father, Benjamin, perhaps the most illustrious American of his day; equally determined to defend the authority of the king and Parliament was the son, William, royal governor of New Jersey. The eventual success of the rebellion earned the former a prominent position in the section of the American pantheon of heroes set aside for the Founding Fathers, and ensured the latter a place in the national rogues' gallery of villains who opposed the creation of the new nation. William Franklin deserves a better fate. Apart from an intimate involvement in the career of his illustrious father, William is a significant historical figure in his own right. He was one of the most popular and successful of all royal governors, effectively representing both the crown and the people of New Jersey from 1763 to 1776. He was also one of the most important American Loyalists, serving from 1780 to 1 782 as president of the Board of Associated Loyalists headquartered in New York and from 1782 to 1 790 as a chief spokesman for Royalist refugees in hearings before the British Claims Commission. Moreover, his is the poignant story of a senSitive, dedicated, courageous man who strove to find himself amid the confusions of the world in which he lived. Little is known of William Franklin's childhood, those formative years psychologists consider primary in shaping personality. Not even the date of his birth or the identity of his mother is known. He was probably born shortly after his father took Deborah Read Rogers as a common-law wife on September 1, 1730. Deborah may have been his mother, but he was probably born to a maid named "Barbara" or to one of the "low women" with whom his father had admittedly been "frequently" led into "intrigues" by the "hard-to-be-governed passion of youth." Perhaps it is enough to know that his father was Benjamin Franklin, for that single factor proved to be the dominant element in William's life. By any standard of measurement, Benjamin Franklin was an extraordinary man. His personal odyssey through life, which began in 1706 as the son of a nondescript Boston tallow maker, ended in 1790 as the venerable First Citizen of the Western World. Every schoolchild knows the rags-to-riches tale of how he arrived nearly penniless in Philadelphia in 1 723 to seek his fortune and how in succeeding years he achieved recognition and success as a statesman, scientist, inventor, philosopher, diplomat, publisher, educator and politician. He became a legend in his own time, the symbol of an age and model of an American. Ambitious, optimistic, brash, pragmatic, inquisitive, acquisitive, self-righteous, enlightened - any of the terms frequently used to describe the America of the eighteenth century also describe Benjamin Franklin. But there is another side to the multifaceted Mr. Franklin. A basically insecure person whose life evolved according to a series of identity crises and rebellions against authority, he was a mass of psychological contradictions. He consciously sought to cast himself in the commonplace image of the age, but longed to set himself apart from his fellow citizens; he was one of the wealthiest men of his day, but deliberately affected to be just plain Ben; he painstakingly fashioned elaborate codes of personal and ethical conduct, but violated them without hesitation; he cultivated the image of the creative intellect, but systematically adopted the ideas of others as his own; he yearned to be a Renaissance man, but at heart knew he was a gadfly. 6 Benjamin Franklin was at the threshold of his career at the age of twenty-four when in the span of a few months in 1 730 he acquired in rapid succession his own newspaper, a wife, and a son. Billy, as William was called by the family, must have had an exciting childhood. It was never dull around the Franklin home on lower Market Street. There was constant activity in the print shop and retail store that shared the main floor. Customers were constantly coming and going as the Franklins did a thriving business, selling products ranging from medicine and stationety to food items and manufactured goods. The presses, it seemed, were perpetually in motion, turning out the Pennsylvania Gazette (1730-17 48) and Poor Richard's Almanack (1732-1757) as well as an assortment of pamphlets and handbills. Things were no less hectic in the crowded second floor living quarters where Billy, his brother, sister, and parents shared bed and board with an assortment of friends, relatives, and apprentices. Outside, the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia, capital of Pennsylvania and the largest and most cosmopolitan city in North America, would entice any boy to seek adventure.
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