Jane Franklin Mecom
Jane Franklin was born at Blue Ball house on Union Street in Boston, Massachusetts on March 27, 1712.She was married to a nearly illiterate 22-year-old saddler, Edward Mecom, a poor Scottish immigrant whose swings of mental instability were inherited by at least two of his sons.Constantly in deep debt, he spent much of his marriage in debtors' prison, leaving his wife to be the family breadwinner.[3][6] Jill Lepore, the primary and only historian so far of Jane Franklin, theorizes that the young girl could have had an affair and become pregnant out of wedlock from it, and the marriage was an attempt to save the family dignity.[8] In November 1766, she and her daughters Jenny and Polly established a small shop to sell caps and bonnets that they created using materials sent from London by a friend of Benjamin Franklin.[6] The shop failed when colonists boycotted imported products due to the Townshend Act, a decision Benjamin Franklin could only encourage.[9] It was Mecom's homemade soaps that Franklin used to woo the French, presenting the image of a humbled, "homespun" American.Her distaste for Britain grew substantially, as well, so much so that she considered removing the "crown" stamp from her soaps to replace them with the 13 stars.
Boston, MassachusettsJosiah FranklinAbiah FolgerBenjamin FranklinJames Franklindebtors' prisonJill LeporewedlocktuberculosisBoston MassacreCatherine GreenememoirsPaul RevereJared SparksCarl van DorenPrinceton University PressPresident of Pennsylvania (1785–1788)Ambassador to France (1779–1785)Second Continental Congress (1775–1776)Join, or Die. (1754 political cartoon)Albany Plan of UnionAlbany CongressHutchinson letters affairCommittee of Secret CorrespondenceCommittee of Five"...to be self-evident"Declaration of IndependenceModel TreatyFranco-American allianceTreaty of Amity and CommerceTreaty of AllianceStaten Island Peace Conference1776 Pennsylvania ConstitutionLibertas AmericanaTreaty of Paris, 1783Delegate, 1787 Constitutional ConventionPostmaster GeneralFounding FathersFranklin's electrostatic machineBifocalsFranklin stoveLightning rodKite experimentPay it forwardAssociators111th Infantry RegimentJunto clubAmerican Philosophical SocietyLibrary Company of PhiladelphiaPennsylvania HospitalAcademy and College of PhiladelphiaUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia ContributionshipUnion Fire CompanyEarly American currencyContinental Currency dollar coinFugio centStreet lightingPresident, Pennsylvania Abolition SocietyMaster, Les Neuf SœursGravesiteThe Papers of Benjamin FranklinFounders OnlineSilence Dogood letters (1722)A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain (1725)The Busy-Body columns (1729)The Pennsylvania Gazette (1729–1790)Early American publishers and printersPoor Richard's Almanack (1732–1758)The Drinker's Dictionary (1737)"Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress" (1745)"The Speech of Polly Baker" (1747)Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc. (1751)Experiments and Observations on Electricity (1751)The Way to Wealth (1758)Pennsylvania Chronicle (1767)A Letter to a Royal Academy (1781)"The Morals of Chess" (1786)The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1771–1790, pub. 1791)Bagatelles and Satires (pub. 1845)Franklin's phonetic alphabetBibliographyFranklin CourtBenjamin Franklin HouseBenjamin Franklin Institute of TechnologyBenjamin Franklin ParkwayBenjamin Franklin National MemorialFranklin InstituteawardsBenjamin Franklin MedalRoyal Society of Arts medalDepicted in The Apotheosis of WashingtonMemorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of IndependenceTreaty of ParisBenjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the SkyRevolutionary War DoorBoston statueChicago statueColumbus, Ohio, statueUniversity of Pennsylvania statuePortland, Oregon, statueSan Francisco statueStanford University statueWashington D.C. statueRefunding CertificateFranklin half dollarOne-hundred-dollar billFranklin silver dollarWashington–Franklin stampsCities, counties, schools named for FranklinBenjamin Franklin CollegeFranklin FieldMount FranklinState of FranklinSons of Ben (Philadelphia Union)Ships named USS FranklinBen Franklin effectIn popular cultureBen and Me (1953 short)Ben Franklin in Paris (1964 musical play)1776 (1969 musical1972 filmBenjamin Franklin (miniseries)A More Perfect Union (1989 film)Liberty! (1997 documentary series)