Franklin,+Ben+2

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Josiah Franklin, his father, a well-versed and industrious young man, was a dyer of textiles in Ecton, England. With his first wife Anne and his three children, Elizabeth, Samuel, and Hannah, Josiah emigrated to Boston in 1683, leaving behind a two-hundred year legacy of the Franklin family in England. In the infant society of Puritan Boston (population 5,000) there seldom was a need for Josiah's skill, forcing him to adopt a new trade: candle and soap making. Several years later, Anne Franklin died of complications while giving birth to her seventh child. The grieving husband soon married Abiah Folger of Nantucket, who went on to bear him ten more children, of which Benjamin was the tenth. Ben Fanklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was the tenth son of soap maker, Josiah Franklin. Ben’s mother was Abiah Folger, the second wife of Josiah. Josiah overall had 17 children. Ben’s brother James first started The New England Courant the first “Newspaper” in Boston. Though there were already two papers in the city but they only reprinted news from abroad. Ben wanted to write papers too but he knew his brother wouldn’t let him. So, Ben went under the name “Silence Dogood.” He would sneak the letters he wrote underneath the print shop door at night so no one knew who wrote them. They were a smash hit and everyone wanted to know who the real Silence Dogood was. After 16 letters Ben confessed it was him all along.