In light of Fathers Day, I couldn’t help but wonder how tense such a day would be at the Franklin household.
Though he was one of seventeen children, Benjamin Franklin fathered only three children: William (whose mother is to this day unknown), Francis (who died at age 4), and Sarah (affectionately know to her father as “Sally”).
It was William that caused his father the most political grief, but not because of his scandalous birth. William was in fact a Loyalist! He served as the last Royal Governor of New Jersey and remained a steadfast Loyalist throughout the American War of Independence, despite his father’s role as one of the most prominent Patriots during the war. In 1782, William was exiled to England, where he lived out the rest of his life, needless to say, away from his estranged father.
- an article on “Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots” from U.S.History.org
- ”My Son, My Enemy” from Time
- a short biography
Posted on June 21, 2011
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