Josiah Franklin

Josiah Franklin (December 23, 1657 - January 16, 1745) was an English businessman and the father of Benjamin Franklin. Born in the village of Ecton, Northamptonshire, England on December 23, 1657, Josiah was the ninth child of blacksmith Thomas Franklin and his first wife Jane White Franklin. Thomas Franklin remarried and had more children. Josiah Franklin was an industrious young man who worked as a fabric dyer in Ecton. In Boston, he was a member of Old South Church where he served as a tithingman.

Franklin immigrated to the American colonies in 1682. He married twice and had 17 children - ten boys and seven girls.

Marriage to Anne Child

Josiah Franklin married his first wife, Anne Child, in 1677 and they had three children: Elizabeth, Samuel, and Hannah. Upon moving to Boston, he took up the trade of tallow chandler and soap boiler because the trade he was born to was not in demand in New England. Four more children were born Boston, Massachusetts: Josiah Jr., Ann, Joseph (I), and Joseph (II). The first Joseph died soon after birth, and the next child was named for him. He was born in 1689, and Anne Child Franklin died of complications from his birth.

Marriage to Abiah Folger

In November 1689, Josiah Franklin married his second wife, Abiah Folger, in the Old South Church. Abiah of Nantucket, Massachusetts, was the daughter of Peter and Mary Morrill Foulger. Peter Foulger was a schoolmaster, a miller and a surveyor.

Abiah bore Josiah 10 children: John (1690), Peter (1692), Mary (1694), James (1697), Sarah (1699), Ebenezer (1701), Thomas (1703), Benjamin (1706), Lydia (1708), and Jane (1712).

Benjamin Franklin

Josiah insisted that each of his sons must learn a trade. He had great dreams of Benjamin becoming a minister, but Josiah could only afford to send his son to school for two years. As his young Benjamin loved to read, Josiah apprenticed him to his brother James, who was a printer. Later, Benjamin Franklin borrowed books from his friends and taught himself arithmetic, grammar, and philosophy. Benjamin, whose full name was Benjamin Josiah Franklin, had a very strong relationship with his father, who had a great influence on Benjamin.