The Loyal Son: The War in Ben Franklin's House

by Daniel Mark Epstein

The dramatic story of a founding father, his illegitimate son, and the tragedy of their conflict during the American Revolution—from the acclaimed author of The Lincolns

Ben Franklin is the most lovable of America’s founding fathers. His wit, his charm, his inventiveness—even his grandfatherly appearance—are legendary. But this image obscures the scandals that dogged him throughout his life. In The Loyal Son, award-winning historian Daniel Mark Epstein throws the spotlight on one of the darker episodes in Franklin’s biography: his complex and confounding relationship with his illegitimate son William.

When he was twenty-four, Franklin fathered a child with a woman who was not his wife. He adopted the boy, raised him, and educated him to be his aide. Ben and William became inseparable. After the famous kite-in-a-thunderstorm experiment, it was William who proved that the electrical charge in a lightning bolt travels from the ground up, not from the clouds down. On a diplomatic mission to London, it was William who charmed London society. He was invited to walk in the procession of the coronation of George III; Ben was not.

The outbreak of the American Revolution caused a devastating split between father and son. By then, William was Royal Governor of New Jersey, while Ben was one of the foremost champions of American independence. In 1776, the Continental Congress imprisoned William for treason. George Washington made efforts to win William’s release, while his father, to the world’s astonishment, appeared to have abandoned him to his fate.

A fresh take on the combustible politics of the age of independence, The Loyal Son is a gripping account of how the agony of the American Revolution devastated one of America’s most distinguished families. Like Nathaniel Philbrick and David McCullough, Epstein is a storyteller first and foremost, a historian who weaves together fascinating incidents discovered in long-neglected documents to draw us into the private world of the men and women who made America.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American Revolution, Politics, American History, Biography Memoir

464 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2017

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shortly before his death, Franklin wrote his son, William, “nothing has ever hurt me so much…as to find myself deserted in my old age by my only son; and not only deserted, but to find him taking up arms against me, in a cause wherein my good name, fortune, and life were all at stake.”

Ben Franklin kept his private life very private. It is only recently information about his personal life has been coming out. He married in his twenties and also fathered an illegitimate son, William, whom he adopted. They enjoyed many years together working on scientific and diplomatic matters. By 1776, William was the Royal Governor of New Jersey. William stayed loyal to England during the Revolutionary War. He was captured and imprisoned during the war, while Ben lived in luxury in Paris.

The book is well written and impeccably researched. Epstein drew on unpublished correspondence as well as published works. Epstein illustrated the public issues that drove the father and son apart. Epstein stayed neutral and maintained a balance but not uncritical of either man. The book reads more like a novel than a history book. This is a dual biography of the father and son. I am sure that this problem of divided loyalties played out in many families during the revolution.

Daniel Epstein is a well-known biographer. I particularly enjoyed his biography on Abraham Lincoln. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book was sixteen and a half hours long. Scott Brick does a great job narrating the book. Brick is an actor and a multi-award-winning audiobook narrator.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why did this apple fall so far from the tree? Daniel Mark Epstein doesn’t ask or answer this question, but he has combed the records and created a dual biography of father and son in turbulent times.

Benjamin Franklin’s first diplomatic mission abroad was to obtain funds from the Penn's (proprietors of the colony that bears their name) to assist in defending Pennsylvania colonists against Indian attacks. While in England he saw a corrupt system and had to prostrate himself to it to achieve his mission. This experience and surely that of being a self-made man put him on the Revolutionary path.

It appears that his son William saw a career path with the British. He got his (first) job as colonial Governor of New Jersey through his father’s connections. His wife was British. He invested in a land deal that would make him (his father, and other investors) very rich, but it depended on the British government. The demands of his job were such that he earned the ire of the colonists. Turning back was a bridge too far.

While Benjamin was in France, negotiating an alliance, William was one of the highest profile Tories in the colonies. His actions did not help his father’s delicate position at home or abroad. When under patriot house arrest William used his name and position to get a situation nearer to a Tory enclave. When he got there he made contacts and abused a parole by issuing (fake) pardons (by which Tories could masquerade as patriots). When moved to a “real” prison for his offense he put George Washington (who knew him as young man) on the spot by asking for a reprieve to see his dying wife. When that did not come through sympathy for him/his father and his poor health may have had a role in his release in a prisoner exchange. He used this freedom to set up a spy and guerilla warfare unit against the colonists. He encouraged reprisals, which led to the “Asgill Affair” where revenge (for reprisals) led to international sympathy for a 19 year old scapegoat and bad press for both Washington and both Franklin's (although William seemed oblivious to it falling back to him). It also stalled the peace process since sympathy was felt all the way to France for young Asgill where the diplomat, Franklin used his precious political capital to spare Asgill and diffuse the incident..

Ben Franklin’s benevolent image is tarnished in this story. His (common law) marriage seems to be one of convenience. He got a mother for the illegitimately born William, and she got protection from a spouse that may have been dead. Deborah loved him very much and suffered from his long absences. He was a ladies’ man in his travels, and was surely disloyal to her. He did not attempt to be at her side when he knew she was dying.

While Franklin is an active father, introducing William to the worlds of diplomacy and business, there is something not quite right about the wealthy father giving a bill to his son for expenses incurred while they traveled together. Maybe he considered William a spendthrift, later in life he is always short of money despite a salary of $200,000 in today’s terms (p. 86). William surely saw his father’s flirtations which he knew would be hurtful to the woman who raised him. Benjamin (to our knowledge) never told William about his biological mother. As William became more committed to the British, there seemed to be some gloating by Franklin in the way he took William’s son under his wing. (He does not give his grandson a bill for the travels.) After the war, William hopes for a reconciliation that doesn’t come.

I’ve been curious about this relationship and I’m glad Daniel Mark Epstein has put this together. While I was most interested in family dynamics, as shown in this review, this is a history. If you are interested in the American Revolution, you will want to read this book.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Daniel Mark Epstein, Ballantine Books, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

The book begins with a fictionalized account of Benjamin Franklin traveling home with his infant son born out of wedlock. Although it is in no way based in fact, it is a beautiful story, and I immediately wanted this to be developed into its own book. It has such promise.
War is what faces the colonies during the 1740s with the French and Indians. This infant son whom Benjamin and his common-law wife reared fought bravely at the same time Benjamin retired from publishing.
William, like his father, was a bit of a ladies man, and they were both quite popular when they were sent to England as representatives of the Assembly. It was at this time that Benjamin began an accounting of monies owed to him by William that would until the end of his life.
Soon it became apparent that William was a Loyalist and Benjamin was a Patriot, a difference of opinion that would cast a shadow on their relationship for the rest of their lives. One of the few times anyone could swear to hear Benjamin argue was with his son over his loyalties. Benjamin was for revolution and colonists' rights; William believed that King's rule was in the right. William would be " the last royal governor conducting the king's business in America." He soon became quite unpopular.
Regardless of the role Benjamin played during the American revolution, which included postmaster general, scientist, and spymaster, it had no effect on how William was viewed or treated. He was a Tory and therefore, the enemy. He was a disgrace. William's son, Temple, also born out of wedlock, often felt caught in the middle of these two enigmatic men; he loved his father, but he was ruled by his grandfather and hopelessly spoiled by him. (Temple would continue the family tradition and also father an illegitimate child.)
Epstein does an excellent job of bringing to light the story of a family torn apart by war. These two strong-willed men would never reunite although the love for one another was never in question. Personality traits come to the surface. I learned quite a bit about one of our nation's founding fathers. Excellent piece of work!

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although you don't often hear it amidst all the enduring myths surrounding the American Revolution, more than anything else it was a civil war. The 'rebellion against tyranny' was far from universal, and historians estimate as many as one third of the population of the colonies remained loyal to the Crown. It was a war of colony against mother country, brother against brother, friend against friend, and sons against fathers.

And nowhere was this more true than in the home of the most famous American, both at home and abroad, of his day: Benjamin Franklin. Franklin's deeds on behalf of the fledgling United States are too well known to go into detail here, but perhaps few know the story of Franklin's only son, William, governor of New Jersey and loyal to the Crown to his death. William Franklin lost everything as a result of his loyalty to his King - his family ties, his wife, his home and property, his position. He was imprisoned in squalor and isolation for over a year, and his father lifted not a finger to help him, even keeping his grandson, William's own son, from his father. William had chosen his path, and Benjamin Franklin was careful for his own position: a turncoat son was not looked upon fondly in the violent and treacherous days of the revolution.

But whilst Benjamin Franklin's deeds and exploits before, during and after the Revolution might be legend, he did not come across as an especially appealing character in this book. A genius, perhaps; a polymath, certainly; charming, charismatic and a tab hand at diplomacy, for sure. But he also came across as self-important, pompous, selfish and petty. His neglect of his wife certainly doesn't cover him in glory, and his persistent accounting of debts his son owed him, even into death, come across as spiteful. Reading this book I couldn't help but feel that the most important thing in Benjamin Franklin's life was Benjamin Franklin. And yet it is clear William adored his father, yearned for his love and approval, and never gave up hoping for the reconciliation that would restore them to the closeness of his youth.

I've read a number of Daniel Mark Epstein's books recently, most notably his book on the Lincolns' marriage, and I've yet to be disappointed. He has a particular knack for sympathetic portrayals of less than sympathetic characters, never judging or vilifying, yet somehow softening their flaws whilst still avoiding sycophancy or concealment. He made me feel for Mary Lincoln in his book about the Lincolns, and he made me care far more for William's fate than one might have expected. Indeed, I came away from this book with a far better opinion of William Franklin than I did of Benjamin. Perhaps that's partly a result of my being British - I'm not going to think badly of a man fighting against the Revolution and for the Crown, whereas an American reader with a different historical and cultural background might.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Against my better judgment, I stuck with this book to the bitter end. Every so often, the author would throw in some "color" to brighten the text -- a butterfly would flutter through the garden, or the sun would shimmer on the leaves -- but none of these little gratuitous tidbits brought the story to life for me. There is so much information here that I struggled to keep the many actors straight, which was not helped by the the fact that the author often indiscriminately refers to "Franklin" when it is unclear whether he is talking about father or son. In short (and I wish it had been), whereas the story of the rift between Benjamin Franklin and his son, William, is neatly summarized in the first four pages of "A Treasury of Great American Scandals," "The Loyal Son" takes nearly four hundred dense pages of text to make the same point.

[Relstuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding book about a great tragedy. Ben Franklin was one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. A brilliant thinker, inventor, and writer he was much respected in America and internationally by other brilliant people. His diplomacy in France is one of the most successful diplomatic endeavors in American history as he helped bring France into the war between the colonies and England.

What is less well remembered, Franklin's son was governor of New Jersey and stayed loyal to England during the conflict trying to unit the factions as a peacemaker at first and then working to aid the loyalist cause thru military planning and diplomacy. He was pushed beyond the diplomatic role after his arrest and confinement. His wife sickened and died in his absence. His father and he didn't talk to each other as there was some worry on each side that it could reflect poorly on them as they worked to support what they believed in.

It's been easy to think of the American Revolutionary war as the mostly united colonies against an oppressive England. The truth is much messier as England retained many colonists who remained loyal to England. This resulted in a violent division of families and communities with raids and killings of people whose families had know each other for generations. The American Revolutionary war of secession from England was very much a civil war and Benjamin Franklin's family was one of the causalities.

[Grumpus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a Goodreads First-Reads win.

It took me a while to get through this one. The beginning was a little slow but as the history moved into the Revolutionary War, the book became a lot more interesting. I've previous read much about Benjamin Franklin, but I never knew his son was the Governor of New Jersey and that they were on opposite sites during this time. It was heartbreaking to read how their once close relationship deteriorated. I cannot begin to imagine what that must be like. So much sacrifice from our founding fathers.

This is a must read if you are a fan of US history as there was so much new material that I had not known previously.

[Cheyanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book because the political rift between Benjamin Franklin and his son William seemed to offer an unique perspective on the War for Independence. William was Ben's illegitimate son, born of an unknown mother but raised from infancy by Ben and his common law wife, Deborah. After a brief but successful career in the army and years in England assisting his father's diplomatic missions, William was appointed to be the Governor of New Jersey. Refusing to support the colony's rebellion against Great Britain, William was ultimately jailed by the rebels, spending months in almost fatal squalor. Finally freed in a prisoner exchange, he directed bloody Tory reprisals in rebel territory and eventually fled to England. In the process, the relationship between Ben and William suffered a break that never really healed.

Unfortunately, this promising material is not developed in any depth. The author takes a long time to reach the presumed focus of the book: the independence movement and the resulting conflict between father and son. Until that point, it is mostly a review of Ben Franklin's already well-known career. There were a few facts that were new to me, such as Ben's stint as a militia commander on the western frontier of Pennsylvania -- a career turn made possible largely due to the support of his son, who was an experienced army officer by his early twenties. But we learn very little about William as a separate individual or about the personal relationships in the Franklin family. Potentially interesting material, such as Ben's competitiveness with his son and the close relationship between William and his adoptive mother, Deborah, is merely touched on in passing. William's criticism of Ben for remaining in England even as Deborah lay dying is noted, but not examined.

There is also little analysis of William's motives in remaining a Loyalist when the colonies rebelled against British rule. He is merely depicted as a stubbornly dedicated officer of the crown. The author never considers whether there may have been an Oedipal aspect to the conflict between father and son. Similarly, one has the wonder if the trauma of William's imprisonment -- when he was also prevented from visiting his dying wife-- influenced the viciousness of the Tory raids he later orchestrated. One is left to wonder, because the author is not interested in delving into this subject.

All in all, The Loyal Son is rather like a stroll through a poorly lit museum. There are interesting glimpses, but too much is lost in shadows.

[Jennifer Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received through FirstReads...
I enjoyed this more than I expected to. The American Revolution and it's surrounding years, and the famous people associated with it, have not been anything that I've gone out of my way to read about. So I realized that I knew almost nothing about Benjamin Franklin, and that he was actually quite interesting. The author did an excellent job of bringing the subjects to life. They don't all blend together into a gray mass of interchangeable people, each is vibrant and memorable.

[Machelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I literally struggled through this one. There were occasional glimpses that drew me in and then just fell away to a not so intriguing story.

[Andy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the estrangement between Benjamin Franklin and his only son William who remained loyal to England during and after the Revolutionary War is well known, the nuances and details of the estrangement are not. This thorough book gives the nuance, its balance corrects the common understanding that Ben Franklin was a blameless patriot in this and that William was an ungrateful son who ruthlessly turned his back on America.
"Loyal Son" starts with William being illegitimate and how Benjamin and his wife Deborah adopted and raised him. There are many chapters on the early, close relationship between Benjamin and William. They were together during the early wars against the French and Indians, they each had credibility with Native American tribes and negotiated treaties with them while exercising military leadership. William was his father's partner in the famous electricity experiments. When Ben went to England to negotiate for the colonists, William went with him and arguably was more effective in his own right. They had similar opinions about the English/Colonial relationship. William fathered an illegitimate son, Temple, and later fell in love with and married Elizabeth who accompanied him on his return to America.
William was appointed Governor of New Jersey, something that Benjamin did not oppose. While Benjamin and William had growing disagreements about the England/Colony relationship each had mixed feelings. Benjamin was not an early radical , he maintained a hopeful loyalty to England while others gave up on England, William was an advocate for American interests against England's inflexibility. William was much more successful than other colonial Governors in achieving a balance on the worsening relations.
Even as the Revolutionary War started, the two kept contact. It was William who cared for Deborah until her death while Benjamin was in England even sometimes risking his personal safety. William maintained a warm relationship with his sister Sally and her family even as they sided with the Americans. When William is eventually arrested by the Americans Sally supports William's wife Elizabeth and invites her to live with them. After Elizabeth dies while William is under arrest Sally names her newborn daughter after her. A poignant footnote to this is that when William writes to George Washington to be allowed to visit his dying wife, Washington is conflicted. He knows of William's earlier betrayals of secretly working for the English while under an earlier house arrest but his compassion leads him to recommend to Congress that William be allowed to do so, a recommendation that is rejected.
The estrangement between the two grows as the war continues. The book puts this in the context of the increasingly violent guerilla warfare between the Tory Americans and the Revolutionary Americans.William is caught up in that after he is freed and living in the English occupied New York. but the book details the atrocities on both sides, a nuance ignored by Benjamin.
William returns to England after the war while Benjamin has remained in France. When Benjamin returns to America he stops in England and while there is some reconciliation with English friends his meeting with William results in anything but. Benjamin even resents Temple's affection for his father during the years of estrangement while Temple was with his grandfather in England, the United States and then France. When Benjamin dies, his will is a slap at William from the grave.
Ben Franklin has justifiably become an American hero. However, as this book shows, he was hardly a saint. His long years away from his wife Deborah while pursuing numerous sexual affairs can be somewhat understood by service to country but this and other biographies show that Franklin extended his stays even when his country's business was done. That same narcissism prevented him from maintaining a personal relationship with William that his sister Jane, his daughter Sally, and his grandson Temple were able to have

[John Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This remarkable book makes a rare achievement, telling an unfamiliar story about a seemingly familiar subject (Benjamin Franklin). Somehow most of us missed learning that Benjamin's only son William, a close contemporary of George Washington, was for a decade the loyal colonial governor of New Jersey, who stubbornly held on to his position years into the Revolution, when all of his fellow servants of the Crown had fled. Benjamin at this time was in charge of the revolutionary government's intelligence and communications operations. You can imagine that this led to a bit of tension in the family.

All the turns to the story, both emotional and eventful, are best left for the reader to discover. Not having studied the American revolution in detail, I learned much, both about its political origins and about how it felt to live in this country at the time. (The war was more brutal than I had understood.) And the characters of both Benjamin and William are both portrayed with complexity and subtlety, which kept me interested when other details seemed overwhelming.

More than most careful, highly researched works, Epstein's dual biography is full of warmth and personality. All of the many characters that surround such eventful lives are sketched vividly, such as Ben's daughter Sally and Ben's lifelong Tory friend William Strahan. If I were to quibble, it would be over a point of style that sometimes caused me to stumble: Epstein has a habit of mentioning an event and its consequences, and then with little transition, returning to the beginning of the event to narrate it in detail, making a mess of one's mental chronology. But this is literally the only quibble I have; I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys any sort of history.

[Rina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most fans of the revolutionary era are familiar with the natural aristocracy that developed in the late 1700s and their feelings of disenfranchisement from the British Empire. One of the most interesting figures that emerged from that time period, Benjamin Franklin, has always been set apart from the other leaders of the American Revolution as eccentric. The Loyal Son, furthers the exploration of Benjamin Franklin's unconventional life by exposing his unique family relationships, which up until now, I knew little about. I found this biography of Franklin and his son fascinating. For me, the best parts were their roles in the militia during the French and Indian War and their dealings with the Native Americans. I was never aware that Benjamin Franklin championed the rights of the Natives. Nor did I know anything about his illegitimate son and what a major role he played in the colonies. Overall, I think anyone who enjoys learning about events leading up to the American Revolution will love this book.

[Chrismcginn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a lot of history books over the years and more than my share of Benjamin Franklin biographies (mainly for kids), but this one kind of blew me away. It recounts most of the big highlights of Franklins life with a light touch on his scientific experiments and more rigorous appraisal of his diplomatic pursuits. However neither this man’s intense grasp of human nature nor his status and power within the rebellion could prevent what must have been the deepest wound he ever felt— his son’s loyalty to the king, arrest and later involvement in crimes against rebels. I really enjoyed this unique biography that shed light on many aspects of Franklins life and that of the nation’s early days that I had no knowledge of. At times poignant and other times maddening, the relationship between this father and son and extended family resonates in the hearts of all who have family and wonder if those bonds could survive the type of challenges these men endured.

[Bob H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important and well-researched new biography, two biographies really, one of William Franklin, royal governor of New Jersey during the Revolution, and of his famous father, Benjamin. The book follows William's life, from the 1760s on, as he rose in colonial society, and as Franklin would become more and more involved in the revolutionary movement. The war between Loyalist and Continental would divide father and son, and each would play a major role on their respective sides, William as "the most influential, the most revered, and probably the most powerful American loyalist," the author tells us. We learn much about William's imprisonment and mistreatment at revolutionary hands, and his continuing estrangement from his father. It's a well-told and important story of a prominent American of those times -- and a reflection on his father Benjamin as well.

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

My man Ben Franklin was a very complicated man with very complicated family history. This excellent biography looks at the relationship of Ben and his son William. The two were very close--and then the American Revolution came and they picked opposite sides. Epstein is a master at narrative non-fiction.

[Patricia Bracewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely fascinating look at the life of Ben Franklin and his immediate family, in particular his Loyalist son, William. It casts a harsh light on plenty of little-known (at least, by me) aspects of the American Revolution.

[Stan Prager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of: The Loyal Son: The War in Ben Franklin’s House, by Daniel Mark Epstein
by Stan Prager
(2-26-18)

The phrase “brother against brother” ever conjures up the American Civil War in popular memory, but that same expression could just as accurately be stamped upon our founding conflict, the American Revolution—except that the very real bitter division that shook the thirteen colonies during that rebellion has long been buried in a kind of historical amnesia that implies an unanimity of purpose in British North America that never actually existed. The reality was that friends and families were torn apart, with Patriots and Loyalists often inflicting horrific brutalities upon the opposing side. Recent works—such as Alan Taylor’s American Revolutions and Holger Hoock’s Scars of Independence—are gradually revealing the uncomfortable facts of the matter, long obscured by heritage myth. A new welcome addition to the historiography is The Loyal Son: The War in Ben Franklin’s House, by Daniel Mark Epstein, a sometimes brilliant, well-written reminder that just as during the Civil War, it was not only brother against brother, but father against son. During the American War of Independence, the most famous father and son at each other’s throats were the esteemed Patriot Benjamin Franklin, and his son, William Franklin, the Loyalist governor of New Jersey.
Benjamin Franklin—sometimes dubbed the “grandfather of our country” because he was so much older than Washington and the other Founders—was a remarkable self-made polymath who throughout his long life was printer, author, scientist, inventor, statesman and so much more: a truly iconic figure in his day on both sides of the Atlantic. Due to his pivotal role in both the Revolution and the birth of the Republic, Franklin has received much attention in the literature, including the widely acclaimed biography by Walter Isaacson that I read some years ago. Yet, his son William—also a highly accomplished man who for decades was nearly inseparable from his father—rarely earns little more than a footnote in tales from the life of his more famous forebear. In The Loyal Son, Daniel Mark Epstein seeks to right this wrong, not only by rescuing William from the anonymity where history has cast him, but also by placing him in the proper context for his time and place, an often overlooked milieu where there was hardly a consensus for revolution, and vast numbers in the population remained loyal to the British crown. It just so happened that William Franklin was one of them.
Epstein, while not a trained historian, is something of a polymath himself: poet, dramatist and biographer. Despite a lack of scholarly credentials, he has managed to turn out what is both
an outstanding history and dual-biography on a number of levels, not least in that he brings a fresh perspective to the years leading up to the American Revolution, and deftly does so through the eyes and experience of two notable men who end up on opposite sides of the divide when conflict breaks out. His skill as a writer translates into an artful prose that is often lacking in the works of more distinguished historians. As such, in a book that runs just under four hundred pages and covers not only the lives of its subjects but the grander themes of the day, the pace never slows and there are virtually no dull moments.
William Franklin is, of course, the title character in The Loyal Son—a title that is a clever but also a tragic play on words. In the preface, Epstein wistfully imagines the identity of William’s mother and the circumstances of his birth, but admits that the facts of the matter are stubbornly unknown. What is known is that the young Benjamin Franklin was father to an illegitimate son with a lady who has been lost to history, a secret kept that has never been revealed. Franklin brought this infant to Deborah Read, the woman who became his common-law wife (they were never officially married, for complicated reasons), and she raised him as her own. But William Franklin’s life was defined far more consequentially by his relationship with his father. As a young man, he distinguished himself in the military, but then returned from war to engage in almost side-by-side endeavors with his father for decades to come. Once Benjamin had made his fortune—his Poor Richard’s Almanack had much to do with that—he largely retired from business in favor of scientific and scholarly pursuits, often eagerly accompanied by William, who served as aide and confidante. Seemingly incongruous for the great Patriot, the elder Franklin spent much of his life living abroad, both in England before the Revolution, and later in France, representing the new nation diplomatically. William accompanied his father to England for a sojourn that was to last many years, establishing key contacts that would lead to his selection as royal governor of New Jersey.
This eminent role was subsequently to have fateful consequences, as events elsewhere in the colonies and friction with the mother country deeply radicalized his father, while he was yet still living abroad. In a remarkable coincidence of timing, Benjamin returned from England on the very eve of the Revolution, immediately staking out a leading role in the developing rebellion even as William remained a moderate but firm voice against separation. Epstein here masterfully explores a topic rarely probed: how the renowned Benjamin Franklin is yet at this stage eyed quite skeptically by fellow patriots, who hold him in great suspicion for both his many years of residence in London, and as father to a stubbornly loyal governor. As it is, both Franklins prove stubborn to their diametrically opposed convictions, which—despite their lifelong close bond—drives them permanently apart.
Benjamin Franklin’s prominence in the Revolution and its aftermath are well-known; William’s own woeful story is rarely told. While all the other loyal governors flee the colonies, William doggedly remains in office, attempting to strike some kind of middle course that does not seek conflict with the rebels yet adamantly resists independence. The center, of course, could not hold. The forces of rebellion seized the reins of power, atrocities were committed on each side—including even such medieval punishments as drawing and quartering—and treason remained in the eye of the beholder. Ousted from authority, the governor was at first treated gently, likely because of his famous father, but a series of events and William’s own devious efforts to secretly abet the Loyalist cause eventually relegated him to the worst sort of prison, where he languished for months in truly deplorable conditions. His British-born wife, whom Benjamin and the rest of the family loved and cherished in the preceding years, fell into ill health in isolation, separated from her husband. William was refused permission to visit her on her death bed, even after beseeching George Washington, a one-time friend from bygone days.
And where was Benjamin while his son suffered so? He was working for the cause of Revolution, on both sides of the Atlantic, with William’s own son—Temple—in tow, in the same role of aide and confidante that William once held, long before. It makes the reader wince to see Benjamin abandon his son to an awful fate—emaciated, teeth falling out, rats crawling on his bedding in a drafty cell—while the great Patriot is honored at home and abroad. The author argues that it under the circumstances it would have been dangerous for Benjamin to intercede directly on behalf of his son, while suggesting circumstantial evidence exists that attempts were made behind the scenes, but all of this rings of excuses all too flimsy. Ben had once been closer to his son than any other human being; now he had so hardened his heart that even a token of mercy was out of the question. It is especially poignant that William seems to have never given up his love for his father, nor the hope that one day their fractured relationship would be mended. Sadly, it was not to be. Safe in England after the war, William sought reconciliation that even then Benjamin spurned.
Benjamin Franklin was a man who was a friend to many and seemed, unlike many of his fellow Founders, always given to the best of motivations. But he was not the finest family man. He failed to inoculate his first son with Deborah Read for smallpox (although, notably, William had been vaccinated), and the boy died of the disease, a scourge of the day. Benjamin lived for decades away from Deborah, who longed for his return but was ever rebuffed, even after she was disabled by stroke. She died heartsick, without seeing him again, all while he dallied with a host of women in the halls of Europe. Despite his close relationship with William, his very wealthy father kept an ongoing tab of debt accumulated by the son in expenses given to raising him and to his education, a debt he ever dangled before him, a debt that should never have been assessed. During the war, William might very well have died in prison, and his wife did perish, far from his side; Ben did nothing for either of them. And in the tumult of Revolution, Benjamin drove a wedge between William and the whole of the rest of the family, including his own son, Temple, although the break with the latter was to heal, unlike the one with his father. That bond remained severed. Forever.
William was a prominent Loyalist with a famous name and a famous father, but he was hardly alone: some estimates of Loyalists run to a half million, or twenty percent of the white population of the colonies. Most of these Tories, like William, were no more or less honorable individuals than the Patriots they resisted. But they found themselves on the losing side. Some were murdered, others imprisoned, and the bulk of the survivors lost much of their property and were permanently driven out of their homes. Most of them died in exile. Until recently, their collective stories have long been ignored. This fine book takes another step towards resurrecting these lives for a modern audience that hardly knows they ever lived.
If there is a fault to The Loyal Son, it is that while notes are included, those notes could have much more depth. But perhaps that is a quibble, and certainly could be beefed up in a future edition. More importantly, this is a very well-written work that makes a significant contribution to studies of the Revolutionary era. I would highly recommend this book to every student of American history.

Review of: The Loyal Son: The War in Ben Franklin’s House, by Daniel Mark Epstein, is on the book blog: https://regarp.com/2018/02/26/review-...

[Leah K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic but definitely would have been better if a bit shorter and better editing.

[Jerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Loyal Son is a very difficult book to stay on the story track with as it has seemingly endless digressions away from the crux of the story, i.e., William, the loyal son. Never-the-less, (with some skimming) I finished the book and found the chapters toward the end not quite as taxing as in the first 3/4 of the book as they deal more with William's personal life and less with the peripheral characters and their divergent personal, political and international intrigues. A final note: It does seem there are a large number of men throughout the book with the given name of William or surname of Williams. Particularly annoying is the final chaper where, it seems, all previously mentioned Williams are referenced once again with the apparent expectation that the reader will remember the details of each and every one. Not likely.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: The history of relations between Ben and his illegitimate son William Franklin, from filial loyalty to estranged parties as a consequence of the Revolutionary War, and each man’s choices.

I’ve read a biography of Ben Franklin and numerous histories of the Revolutionary War, and had never realized how deeply estranged Franklin and his son were until I read Daniel Mark Epstein’s well-researched study of the lives and the tragic relationship of these two men.

It was not always so. William, an illegitimate offspring of Franklin’s, was raised as a son by him and Deborah. They worked side by side in the affairs of Philadelphia, fought alongside each other against Indian attacks, and went to England together to plead against the Penn family, who as proprietors of Pennsylvania enjoyed an exemption from taxes for defense of the Commonwealth. Franklin supported William in his legal studies while William was at his side in his laboratory and often his emissary in legal pleadings with the Solicitor General. They were engaged together in a land deal for western lands. William gained such a reputation that he even marched in George III’s coronation procession while Ben observed from a distance. While in England William met and married Elizabeth, shortly before they all left for America.

For a few short years, the family was together as Elizabeth gave birth to William Temple Franklin (who would be known as Temple). Ben returned to England as a representative of the colonies for their growing list of grievances against England. William eventually secures an appointment from the Royal Court as governor of New Jersey. From here their paths begin to diverge. Ben becomes increasingly disenchanted with England and concludes that independence for the colonies is the only answer. William remains a loyal to the crown, executing his office well (New Jersey being among the last to join to movement for independence). When Ben becomes involved in the cause against fellow governor Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts, the divide becomes greater.

After a brief return to America in 1775 (after Deborah had died of stroke during his long absence) and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Ben went to France as America’s emissary, taking Temple, who played a role similar to William in his earlier years. Before he departed, he tried to intercede with William to withdraw from his governorship gracefully. William, stood firm, until finally arrested. When paroled, he acted subversively, endorsing pardons of New Jersey loyalists and otherwise acting to subvert the revolution. When discovered, William is imprisoned under deplorable conditions in Litchfield. Ostensibly, Ben does, and can do nothing without seeming in complicity with the son and giving fodder to his own enemies in the colonies. Eventually, in ill health, he is released, but too late to comfort Elizabeth, who dies in New York City. Instead of leaving the country, William continues efforts to mobilize loyalists in subversive activities in support of England, including and indirect role in the seizure and hanging death of hated Captain Jack Huddy.

Only when peace is finally achieved is an attempt made at reconciliation. William makes the first move, in a moving letter of apology to his father, to which Ben responds with coldness. Eventually the two meet, but only for William to sign over lands to satisfy debts to his father. They remained estranged for the rest of their lives, and it was Temple, and not William, who remained in England on a government pension, who inherited from Ben. Sadly, Temple did not otherwise benefit from the influence of his illustrious grandfather, living a dissolute life without direction or purpose.

The “loyal” in Epstein’s title underscores the crux of this book, William’s choice of loyalty to Crown above family. It might have been one thing had he fulfilled his office of governor until displaced. His persistence in the loyalist cause, against all his father and family held dear was fatal to his relationship with Ben, who could not forgive this. Yet one wonders if things might have been different had Ben been more present as a father, particularly in that critical period after he was arrested, and eventually transported to Connecticut. Did his resistance stem in part from his father’s absence when his mother Deborah’s health was failing, while Franklin engaged in affairs with other women?

While William comes off as stubborn, and from an American point of view, a traitor to his country, Ben Franklin comes off little better, and perhaps worse–more interested in money owed than in restoring the son who once worked and fought at his side. Each had betrayed the loyalty of the other, yet it is a mark against the legacy of the elder Franklin that he was so unwilling to forgive. One may attribute this to the exigencies of war which often presses people to hard choices, yet in Epstein’s telling, the elder Franklin comes off poorly.

Epstein shows us a side of Ben Franklin’s life that has been muted in many portrayals of this founder, as well as giving us a full-bodied rendering of William. One unusual aspect of this rendering is the debt Epstein acknowledges to William Herbert Mariboe, whose unpublished 1962 doctoral dissertation on William Franklin he calls “the best biography of William Franklin ever written.” One wonders what might have been if such generosity had existed between father and son Franklin. Sadly, that is a story not to be told.

____________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now... What Y'all Wanna Do? Wanna Be Ballers? Shot-Callers? Brawlers...?

A couple snapshots that I didn't see in other reviews of this book:

Snapshot: There were a lot of "illegitimate children."

*Aside* I do not like that term, even used in its historic sense. That term is a load of codswallop.

Snapshot: Native Americans and French and British Colonists could all be very mean to one another. Very mean. Very, very mean.

*Aside quote*

...Being informed that this was a French lieutenant reading his paper in English, Tanacharison leapt forward, his sharpened tomahawk in hand, demanding of the young Frenchman in his own tongue, "Tu nes pas encore mort, mon pere" ("You are not dead yet, my father"), lifted his hatchet high above his head, and brought it down in the center of Jumonville's skulll, cleaving it like a melon.

Then with a shriek, before the audience of stunned soldiers, the Half King reached into the steaming red and gray matter the skull contained and washed his hands in the brains so lately filled with hope and fear.

Or this one...

Chief Pontiac's recent uprising in Ohio had caused such devastation west of the Susquehanna that a mob of Scots and Irish vigilantes from Paxtong, Pennsylvania, announced a scalp bounty, vowing to exterminate all Native Americans. On December 15, fifty-seven vigilantes swooped down upon a village of Conestoga Indians near Lancaster. These people, many of them Christians, had lived there for years subsisting on trade from crafted brooms, clay pots, and woven baskets. The "Paxton Boys" slaughtered six of them in their huts, promising to kill more. Governor John Penn offered a reward for the vigilantes' capture and placed the sixteen surviving Conestogas in protective custody in the Lancaster workhouse.

No one came forward to name the perpetrators, and two days after Christmas the Paxton terrorists broke into the "guarded" workhouse and executed six Indian men and women and eight children. The massacre sharply divided the colony. "If an Indian injures me, does it follow that I may revenge that injury on all Indians?" Emphatically not, wrote Ben Franklin, in his pamphlet titled, "A Narrative of the Late Massacres in Lancaster County...

A couple things to say here. I grew up on Pennsylvania - on the Susquehanna River. We would often visit my grandfather in Lancaster - on East Chestnut Street - just a couple blocks from the King/Prince corner where this workhouse was. (If I'm reading that right.) And the first depiction was more graphic than the second. The second didn't mention the Paxton Boys scalping and disemboweling the women and children - which happened. I don't know that I'd ever even heard of this event until I read this book. Or it's one of those historical vignettes that gets passed along in youth, but with everything else going on in one's brain pushed to some dark corner and forgotten. Dark corner indeed.

There was a quote on Franklin's pamphlet (mentioned above) that really makes me want to read it, "His influential pamphlet was so critical of Christianity wherever racism thrived in its name that he had alienated a lot of the electorate outside his home city, and many within it."

And it made me think of this: ...wherever racism thrived in its name... ...He wrote that pamphlet in 1764... Anyway, do with that what you will. My guess is that link is only going to work for so much longer...

The book, of course, wasn't really about that. But faction permeates. It's about the Patriot Ben Franklin and his Tory son William. It's about a much-overlooked facet of this Founding Father's life.

And while it was well-researched and thorough, it was a bit too much, and a bit slow for me at times.

If you wanted the review to talk more about the meat and potatoes of the book: sorry. I figured every other review did that. I'd brush up against something fewer reviews were talking about.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The American Revolution was a war of independence from England, but within the American Colonies it was a Civil War. This book balances much of the myth making that occurred in the decades immediately following the revolution, during which the victors wrote the histories and whitewashed story of the Tories that supported the King and who wanted to remain an English Colony. Nearly everyone is familiar with Benjamin Franklin, one of the most revered “Founding Fathers.” This book is a biography of Ben’s illegitimate son, William Franklin, who not only was the Royal Governor of the Colony of New Jersey, but also remained loyal to George III of England. Richly detailed, it provides full coverage of both Franklins as they maneuver in the colonies in the 1750’s (both were active in military operations in Pennsylvania Colony) and later in England in the pre-Revolutionary timeframe. As the Revolution approaches, in England, Ben walks a fine line as a Crown appointed official and also the representative of restive colonies. Seeing no peaceful accommodation by Royal officials, he gradually leans toward the Colonies’ independence. William has become a lawyer, sired his own illegitimate son (Temple Franklin) and seeking advancement, pursues and becomes Governor of New Jersey, reporting to the colony in early 1763. When the Independence movement arises in the mid-1770’s, Governor William Franklin attempts to maintain order using logic and law. Emotions soon overcome logic and Franklin becomes a prisoner in his own house. He seals his fate by granting written pardons to those who supported the King. He was arrested and sent to a jail in Connecticut where many other Tory supporters were housed. The author provides ample details about the jail, conditions and brutal nature of the confinement. When William is exchanged for a captured revolutionary, he goes to British occupied New York City where he attempts to gather supporters to provide local troops to fight the Revolutionary Army and militias. The British Commander thwarts his plans, preferring to use British troops and Hessian Mercenaries to fight the war. It could have been much worse, if William Franklin was listened to. In many areas, the civil war raged as neighbors killed neighbors and burned each others houses and barns. At one point, referring to South Carolina, American General Nathaniel Greene wrote: “if a stop is not put to the massacres ‘the country will be depopulated in a few months more.’” Quite a few pages describe the depredations in New Jersey, where both sides captured and executed prisoners out of hand. The final chapters tell the story of how the Franklins fared postwar. It was a bitter end for William. Temple does not live up to the Franklin name. The fate of Ben Franklin’s papers and letters is sad.
Thanks to the goodreads giveaway program for awarding a free copy of this outstanding book which will appeal to any history loving reader as well as to one who appreciates a well written and highly insightful book.

[Dougb56586 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest online review

William Franklin, the son of Benjamin Franklin, supported the Loyalists during the Revolutionary War. This autobiography is interesting because it relates the history of the Revolutionary War from an unusual perspective – that of an American colonist, son of a prominent member of the Continental Congress, who remained loyal to British colonial rule. It seems likely that William Franklin could have been a significant figure in the new United States of America, if he had chosen the Patriot side. He was had been a popular governor of New Jersey since 1762. His political views seemed to be similar to his father's, and the two were on very good terms until it became clear that William was not going to support the fight for independence. However, unlike his father, who had become independently wealthy at an early age, William Franklin was dependent on his royally appointed governorship for income. In addition, he had invested heavily in an Ohio land scheme that was expected to make him rich, assuming that Britain retained control of the colonies and that the scheme was approved by the King of Britain. Although records indicate Franklin defended his decisions on the grounds of honor and duty, it appears to me that the financial security which he gained from the status quo was also a significant factor in his decision to remain a Loyalist.

Much of the book deals with the father, Benjamin Franklin, and with historically important events of that time. This is necessary to provide context for William Franklin's life. The book is most interesting in the last third which pertains to events during the War. At the time, Franklin was living in British controlled New York, and helped to organize American Loyalists into “guerrilla” style fighting units along side the British army. Instead of the large battles between armies, this book tells about a less heroic aspect of the war - the cold-blooded murders, and looting and rape, that small bands of guerrilla fighters on both sides engaged in. Although Franklin wasn't personally involved in the fighting, his actions facilitated this style of warfare, when he could have easily moved to Britain, as many other Colonial Loyalists did. I did not find this Franklin to be a very admirable person, but, as the saying goes, “do not judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes”.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in readable history books – especially one about the Revolutionary War told from a unique point of view.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a terrific book that showed the personal impact of the Revolutionary War on the divided house of Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin's gradually came to the realization that the treatment of the British Parliament and the Crown toward Americans were different from their treatment of English subjects. First Franklin objected to the lack of security Great Britain provided to the Americans during the French and Indian War which necessitated the use of local militias funded by towns and villages. He traveled to England to urge the Crown to compel the proprietors (the Penn family) to include themselves on the tax rolls. Then he petitioned the Crown to remove the Penns as proprietors entirely because they did such a terrible job on security. When the tide of English opinion turned against him Benjamin reluctantly concluded that the British were uninterested in improving the lives of Americans and more interested in taking money from Americans in the form of taxes. His became a powerful voice in the new American Congress. His son William worked with him while he was in England and was so highly thought of that he was appointed governor of New Jersey. As a byproduct of Franklin's epiphany his relationship with his son deteriorated because they were on opposite sides of the issues at very high levels, William as Governor and Benjamin highly placed in the new Congress. Benjamin tried to persuade William that he was on the wrong side and, failing this, he eventually left William to his own destiny. This was not pretty as William was finally arrested and sentenced to a prison in Connecticut where his health deteriorated and his wife died during his sentence. When he was finally released, he was urged to move to England but he instead moved to New York where he led a violent Loyalist anti-war movement. This caused the final break with his father.
It is interesting to compare the different generations of Franklins: Benjamin, an original, a deep thinker, writer, inventor and patriot beloved by his countrymen and French and British alike. He became an American patriot reluctantly and after much soul searching. His son, William and his grandson, Temple tried to ride thoughtlessly through life on Benjamin's coattails and the charity of others. They were dismal failures. They were lucky Benjamin was born before them.

[David Dunlap · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, the well-known Founding Father and citizen of the world, and his illegitimate son William, who became the Royal Governor of New Jersey in the mid-1760s, as tensions between the American Colonies and the British government across the Atlantic began to rise and, eventually, boil over. The details of Dr. Franklin's life are fairly familiar and have been widely written about; those of Governor William have not been. I found the author's take on both men to be utterly fascinating and vastly more complicated than I had previously believed. It is a sad tragedy that a father and son so deeply committed to each other should have a final -- and seemingly irrevocable -- falling out over politics, but such were (and ARE?) the times... I had been unaware of the attempts at rapprochement between the two following the 1783 Treaty of Paris. --
Truth be told, my five-star rating is based more on what I derived from the book than the book itself. It is well-written enough to maintain one's interest and is, at times, thoroughly engaging and exciting. There are a number of editorial 'glitches,' however (poor Silas Deane keeps losing his final 'e'!), and at times the narrative is a bit difficult to follow (the Lippincott/Asgill affair is a case in point). There were some things I would have liked to have elaborated (why, for example, did the Lee family in Virginia despise Benjamin Franklin so thoroughly?). Still, despite its shortcomings, I would have no qualms about recommending it to anyone who is interested in the period or the Franklin family. (One further aside: In his closing acknowledgements, the author sings the praises of one William Herbert Mariboe, author of 'the best biography of William Franklin ever written, an unpublished PhD dissertation written in the late 1950's. Epstein hails the dissertation as 'one of the most significant contributions to Franklin scholarship of the twentieth century,' high praise indeed! '...Mariboe ought to be named the patron saint of unsung biographers.' Epstein concludes: "And so, you graduate students, historians, toiling in the libraries and archives here and abroad, look upon the example of William Mariboe and be humbled and consoled. Your work matters whether it gets published or not" [391].)

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t get out of this book what I hoped I would, which was a greater understanding of William Franklin’s life and personality. This book is not a biography of William Franklin, despite the title. The author let us know that letters survived from William’s lifetime, but didn’t quote from them, to my disappointment. In fact, the author spends more time on Ben Franklin, and seems to like him better (although I personally found more reasons to be disgusted by Franklin in this book than to like him).

The author betrays bias by repeatedly calling William Franklin a “traitor” or “wayward” or “misguided”, when in fact it was William who was being loyal to the King who gave him his job as Governor of New Jersey, and Ben Franklin who was a traitor to the crown. I did not find any examples of William being wayward or misguided, so I was confused when the author labeled him as such. The author also went on a long digression about eye-for-an-eye murders during the Revolutionary war period, and his continually throwing around the terms “traitor”, “rebel”, “terrorist” made it very confusing who was who, as those terms were highly partisan depending which side of the conflict you were on. I did appreciate that he pointed out several times that the American Revolution was actually a Civil War.

The book would have benefited from the author interviewing a psychologist or reading some books on narcissism in family dynamics. Ben Franklin is a narcissist, who treated his son William as the scapegoat/black sheep, and his grandson (William’s son) as the golden child. His treatment of William was narcissistic, competitive, greedy, and cruel. His treatment of his wife Deborah was abominable abandonment. My main take-always from this book were that Ben Franklin was a terrible human being, the loyalists were treated horribly by both patriots and the crown, and that Temple Franklin (William’s son kept from him by Ben Franklin) was raised to be a worthless sponging womanizer (the womanizing learnt handily from his grandfather Ben; William had the decency to be both faithful to his wife once married and marry again later in life).

[Ralphz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag about a fascinating man and his perplexing son, Benjamin and William Franklin.

As Ben grew in stature and fame as a scientist and patriot, his illegitimate son William went his own way, becoming governor of New Jersey just as war broke out.

The Franklins were accused of colluding, splitting the difference and taking different sides so they could help each other when the dust settled. But the battles inside the family revealed how untrue that was.

The loyalist William was hoping it would all go away, and was imprisoned for being on the wrong side.

Meanwhile Ben warily became a patriot, testing the winds and coming to terms with being on the other side. He was brilliant, of course, and much of the patriots’ war and nation planning involved him. But he didn’t go out of his way to help his son, being much more concerned with his grandson, William’s son Temple.

Along the way, Ben posted himself in France and all but abandoned his dying wife. That created more cracks in the Franklin family.

Ben had a tendency to move slowly, leaving for a short visit to England before the war that turned in to a residence of more than 2 years. He kept his own counsel, did what he wanted, and philandered along the way.

This is an interesting look at a complicated, famous family, warts and all. You’ll probably be a little less enamored with Benjamin Franklin afterward.

Excerpts from letters make up the bulk of the book, but we don’t know how truthful any of the Franklins were with each other, so the truth can bit a bit inconsistent and uncertain.

The book, unfortunately, goes on a little too long. Trim it by about 50 pages and it’ll go down better.

I received this book from Library Thing.

For more of my reviews, go to Ralphsbooks.

[Steve Gentry · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The eighteenth century is worlds away from the twenty-first;" yet, reading about the political issues between father and son and the impact on the American Revolution there are a number of similarities occurring in today's politics--issues with the media, intercepted letters revealed to the public, the polarization of a country.

I knew little about Ben Franklin's son other than he had been the governor of New Jersey before the revolution and had supported the British. I was curious as to why he did not side with his father. The book details his life from his early days in the French and Indian War, his negotiations with the Native Americans, and his closeness to his father until the revolution. It also details his involvement with the British as a loyalist throughout the war. You definitely get a different perspective of the revolution through his eyes.

Ben Franklin, of course, is one of the most celebrated Founding Fathers; but, in hindsight, I really only knew the basics of his life. This book brings his life with his son to light--again, their active role in the French and Indian War, his time in England as an agent for Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, his battle against the Penn family for control of Pennsylvania. It was interesting to read about his initial support for King George III and his wish to have the colony controlled by the crown to his ultimate revolutionary stance.

Finally, the book details the Franklin family--not your typical family then or now. The relationship between Ben and William and Ben and Temple (William's son) were parallel. Basically, Temple took William's role when William remained loyal to the British instead of remaining loyal to his family as his father had hoped.

Definitely a different and interesting perspective on this time in American history.

[Bob Lundquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

The American Revolution was at least a decade in the making. Benjamin Franklin and his son William were in the middle of it. Due to Benjamin’s successful business and scientific work, he became famous and influential during and after the French and Indian War which ended twelve years before the Revolution began. Britian was strapped for cash and taxed the American colonies to raise money to pay for the colonists’ protection from Indians as well as the French and Indian War. Britain was shocked when the colonies refused to pay because they did not approve the taxes beforehand. These tensions built up and were finally released when the colonies effectively declared independence in 1775. In the meantime, Franklin’s son William became royal governor of New Jersey, and he supported Britain’s efforts to tame the colonies in direct opposition to his father. This did not turn out well.

This book is an excellent narrative of Benjamin’s and William’s relationship as well as the others involved. It delves into a little-known aspect of the Revolution, namely, the plight of the loyalists in the colonies during and after the Revolution. William himself was degraded in a filthy prison for six months and lost much of his property. Meanwhile, Benjamin effectively ignored the situation as he was in France trying gain an ally. Another factor is that Benjamin kept track of all the debt William owed him over the years in supporting his career and lifestyle. He demanded William pay back every cent. In addition, there were the tragedies of both their wives and friends. Their wives died basically alone without their husbands. This book is extremely well-written and exposes little-known events that impacted the Revolution and its legacies. The colonies may have been justified in their Revolution, but the implementation left much to be desired.