Deborah Read

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Deborah Read (February 14, 1708 - December 24, 1774) was the spouse of Benjamin Franklin, a prominent inventor, printer, thinker, and revolutionary.

A fifteen-year-old Read was proposed to by a young Franklin in 1724, but her mother denied the marriage, citing Franklin's frequent trips to England and financial instability as reasons. While Franklin was away in search of a printing press in the Mother Country, Read married John Rogers, who fled to Barbados in 1725 to avoid debt. Thus abandoned and left penniless by her first husband, Read accepted another proposal from Franklin when he returned to the colonies two years later. They began a common-law marriage in 1730. They had two children together: Francis "Franky" Folger Franklin (1732 - November 21, 1736) died of smallpox at age four, and Sarah Franklin Bache, called Sally. They also raised William Franklin, Franklin's illegitimate son and future Colonial Governor of New Jersey.

Deborah Read Franklin died of a stroke in 1774, while Benjamin was on an extended trip to England. She did not accompany him on his frequent trips to Europe due to a phobia of ocean travel.

[edit] External links

• Deborah Read Rogers from the Franklin Institute