Earlier this month there was an interesting article about the death of Benjamin Franklin which also mentioned many of Franklin’s achievements. Among Franklin’s many accomplishments was his great variety of literary works. Not only did Franklin master the art and the power of the written word at an early age, but he developed and polished his abilities throughout his life. He started a successful printing business, created the popular Poor Richard’s Almanac, published numerous papers, edited the Declaration of Independence, wrote an extensive autobiography, and even wrote his own epitaph.
One of Benjamin Franklin’s lesser known documents is his last will and testament. It can be easily found on the Internet. It is both elaborate and intriguing. Throughout the document, Franklin displayed admiration and respect when describing the numerous recipients of his properties and wealth — except for his son William — whom he essentially disinherited.Â
Prior to the Revolutionary War, the British appointed William as governor of New Jersey. During the War, his son chose to remain loyal to the British and the perceived safety of Britain’s political system. This, however, resulted in a permanent rift in the father-son relationship. Not only did William reject the cause for American independence and its struggle against the British government’s ever increasing regulations and taxes, but he also rejected any loyalty to his father’s political beliefs.Â
During the war, the colonists stripped William of his Governorship and put him in jail. After 2 punishing years in captivity, William was released during a prisoner exchange program, whereupon he continued his British loyalist activities against the colonists. Benjamin and William met only once following the war without any reconciliation. William continued to lead British loyalist activities while in New York City before permanently immigrating to England along with thousands of other British supporters.
A few years before his death in 1790, Benjamin wrote to his son William: “Nothing has ever hurt me so much and affected me with such keen sensations 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 fame, fortune, and life were all at stake.”
Arriving nearly penniless in Philadelphia at the age of 17, Benjamin Franklin retired at the age of 42 and achieved an estimated net worth of $10 to $40 million over his lifetime. However, in the first section of his will, he bequeaths his son an essentially worthless plot of land in Nova Scotia, while allowing him to keep all books and papers currently in William’s possession, in addition to forgiving all outstanding debts to his father. Benjamin concluded this section of his son’s disinheritance by stating: “The part he acted against me in the late war, which is of public notoriety, will account for my leaving him no more of an estate he endeavoured to deprive me of.”
Villager John Shewchuk is a frequent contributor to Villages-News.com
