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  2. en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Deborah_ReadDeborah Read - Wikipedia

    Deborah Read Franklin (c. 1708 – December 19, 1774) was the common-law wife of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

  3. Frankel and his first wife were divorced in 1944 and he subsequently married (again 'outside' the Jewish faith) a fellow member of the Party. His career entered a new phase after the cessation of hostilities, as his concert music (mainly chamber works, for quite a while) began to find a public, and the British film industry became increasingly ...

  4. The wife of Thomas Godfrey, a mathematician who lived in part of Franklin’s house with his family and Junto member, tried to make a match between Franklin and a relative’s daughter. Franklin started courting the girl and expected a large dowry for their marriage.

  5. But he was married for 44 years. Biographers and historians tend to shy away from his married life, perhaps because it defies idealization. John and Abigail Adams had a storybook union that...

    • Stephen Coss
    • Deborah Read Immigrated to Philadelphia in 1711
    • Courtship with Benjamin Franklin
    • Read Married Her First Husband in 1725
    • Common-Law Marriage with Benjamin Franklin
    • Read Didn’T Like to Travel with Franklin
    • She Successfully Ran Franklin's Businesses
    • She Suffered A Series of Strokes Beginning in 1768
    • Deborah Read’s Final Stroke Came in December 1774

    Deborah Read was born circa 1708. Likely in Birmingham, England. Her family immigrated to Pennsylvania when she was just three years old. They settled in Philadelphia where she would live till she died. It was here she would meet her future husband, Benjamin Franklin. ‍

    ‍ In 1723, a 15-year old Deborah Read would have an eventful encounter with a 17-year-old Benjamin Franklin as he was passing her Philadelphia home from work. The beginning of their courtship would begin there. ‍

    Benjamin Franklin had to go away to London in 1725. Being alone, Deborah Read married a man named John Rogers in Philadelphia. As she was looking to move away from her early courtship with Benjamin Franklin. However, within mere months of their marriage, Rogers abandoned Read. He stole her dowry and left her in financial ruin. ‍

    ‍ Because she was not officially divorced, Deborah Read made the pragmatic decision in 1730 to enter into a common-law marriage with Benjamin Franklin. Being back in America, Franklin rekindled their earlier courtship. The whole thing reflected the complexity of Read's personal situation. They also had to live by 18th-century British American norms...

    ‍ In the 1750s, Benjamin Franklin decided to go back to London. Deborah Read declined to accompany him. As she feared the oceans. She preferred to remain in Philadelphia. Read had an anxiety about seafaring travel. This would keep her distanced from Franklin for years at a time. Though geographically separated, Read and Franklin maintained communic...

    ‍ When Franklin was away, Deborah Read managed the Franklin family's households and all the Franklin business interests in Philadelphia. She did this while lacking a formal education. Read showed that she had savvy leadership and intelligence when she ran the fortunes of Franklin's printing shop and other Franklin ventures. Read's skillful oversigh...

    ‍ In 1768, Deborah Read suffered the first in a series of debilitating strokes. It would be the start of a horrible decline in physical and mental health in the years to come. She was plagued with grim physical and mental effects from the strokes. These include depression. Read’s final decade was a nightmare. Despite her suffering, Franklin would n...

    ‍ In December 1774, Deborah Read suffered a terminal stroke. This led to her death on December 19th. She would be buried in Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia. She would lay there six feet under until Benjamin Franklin was buried beside her after his death in 1790.

  6. Aug 10, 2021 · Nearing his mid-20s, Franklin sought to marry, not for love, but rather for society's sake (via Benjamin Franklin Historical Society). He had dated a woman named Deborah Read, but after Franklin left to go across the ocean to Great Britain, she married a man named Roger Potter.

  7. May 16, 2024 · Step back in time to colonial America and meet Deborah Read, the fascinating wife of one of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. Join us as we uncover the lesser-known facts and stories about this remarkable woman who played a crucial role in the life of one of the most influential figures in American history.