277 Years Ago

On September 1, 1730 Benjamin Franklin married Deborah Read Benjamin in a common-law marriage. In addition to raising William, an illegitimate child of Franklin's, they had two children of their own:

• Francis Folger Franklin, born in October 1732, but he died of smallpox in 1736.
• Sarah, nicknamed Sally, was born on September 11, 1743. She eventually married Richard Bache, who became the U.S. Postmaster General in 1776.
  

So why do I know all of this? Because a few years ago I read the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, which I found most intriguing. Though incomplete, it provided a fascinating look into pre and early America.