DS : Historical Society of Pennsylvania The last orders for payments under the £60,000 act of Nov. 27, 1755, were signed by the provincial commissioners July 22, before Franklin’s return from New York. They were unable to issue any more orders until early October, when funds provided by the £30,000 act of September 21 became available. The thirty-eight orders signed between October 4 and...
2Pennsylvania Assembly: Reply to the Governor, 29 October 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives , 1756–1757 (Philadelphia, 1757), pp. 23–4. When the newly elected Assembly met to organize on October 14, Governor Denny informed it that “several weighty Affairs” required their immediate attention: viz., an embargo on food, clothing, and warlike stores to possessions of France; provision for transporting and quartering British...
3Mutiny Act, [4 November 1756] (Franklin Papers)
Reprinted (in part only) from The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801 , V (Wm. Stanley Ray, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1898), 266–8. The Mutiny Act passed on April 15, 1756 (see above, VI , 434–7), expired by its own limitation on October 30. Two days before that event Franklin brought in a bill, by leave of the House, to renew the law for a short term. With nearly a...
4From Benjamin Franklin to Peter Collinson, 5 November 1756 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : Pierpont Morgan Library; also extract: The Royal Society The above is a Copy of my last, and I now send the two second Bills of Steevens and Ludwell. I wrote then in great Hurry, being just setting out for the Frontiers, to visit some of the Forts with the Governor; a long Journey. Since our Return, I have scarce had a Moment’s Time to write to my Friends, the Assembly sitting twice a...
5Draft of a Speech for William Denny, [12 November 1756] (Franklin Papers)
AD : Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission At the Council meeting following receipt of the Assembly message urging him to meet the Indians in spite of Lord Loudoun’s orders not to, Denny was distressed to learn that the Indians insisted the conference be held in Easton. He agreed unwillingly to go, declaring it “rediculous” to leave the comforts of Philadelphia “to humour the Indians,”...
6From Benjamin Franklin to Deborah Franklin, 13 November 1756 (Franklin Papers)
MS not found; reprinted from William Duane, ed., The Works of Dr. Benjamin Franklin , VI (Philadelphia, 1817), 14. I wrote to you a few days since, by a special messenger, and inclosed letters, for all our wives and sweethearts; expecting to hear from you by his return, and to have the northern newspapers and English letters, per the packet; but he is just now returned without a scrap for poor...
7Draft of a Speech for William Denny, [15 November 1756] (Franklin Papers)
Copy : Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Teedyuscung, responding to Denny’s “Question in plain Terms” about land fraud on November 13, said that French influence with the young braves was the principal cause of the Indian attacks in Pennsylvania. Then, being pressed on the land question, he made the dramatic accusation the anti-proprietary interest, and especially the Quakers, had...
8Draft for a Speech by William Denny, [17 November 1756] (Franklin Papers)
Draft: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission On November 16, Teedyuscung replied to Denny’s speech of the day before, emphasizing again that the delusion of the young braves by the French was “the first and principal Cause” of the Indian attacks in Pennsylvania, though the land frauds he had mentioned reluctantly made “the Blow fall quicker and heavier.” He then explained that he could...
9From Benjamin Franklin to Peter Collinson, 22 November 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Duplicate: Pierpont Morgan Library; also extract: The Royal Society Since mine of the 5th Instant, a long one, per Capt. Snead, I have receiv’d the Air Pump and Apparatus per Rankin. There is some Breakage, of which shall send an Account per next Ship, to have the Glasses renew’d. We are exceedingly oblig’d to you for your Care in the Affair, and return you cordial Thanks. I am just return’d...
10Provincial Commissioners: Orders for Payment [November 23–December 29, 1756] (Franklin Papers)
DS : Historical Society of Pennsylvania After the return of the provincial commissioners from the Easton Indian conference they resumed their regular sessions and began again to issue orders for money payments on November 23. By December 28 the end of their available funds was once more in sight and on that day and the next they authorized a few large payments, including one which turned over...
11Pennsylvania Assembly: Message to the Governor, 24 November 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives , 1756–1757 (Philadelphia, 1757), pp. 32–3. After renewing the Mutiny Act and appointing members to attend the Easton conference on November 4, the Assembly had adjourned to the 22nd. On November 23, Franklin and Joseph Galloway were appointed to draft a message requesting copies of such proprietary instructions “as relate to...
12Timothy Horsfield to the Provincial Commissioners, 29 November 1756 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society I Received the Cash £21 4 s . for the Account per Mr. Edmonds for which I Return my harty thanks. Would now Inform you that when the Indians returnd from the Treaty they came thro Bethlehem and One of them Named John Smaling Was taken Sick. We Lodgd him and Wife in a Shed Made of Boards &cr. having no Better place to put them. I Visited him and found he was...
13To Benjamin Franklin from Augustus Gottlieb Spangenberg, 29 November 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Copy: Archives of the Moravian Church, Bethlehem To wait on you at Bethlehem, on your Return from Easton to Philadelphia, would have been a great Satisfaction to many of us, who have the Honour of your Acquaintance. I flatter myself with the Opinion, that you would not have pass’d by, had your Affairs permitted any longer stay in the Country. And now I take this Opportunity of letting you Know...
14Pennsylvania Assembly Committee: Report on Precedents in the House of Commons, 3 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives , 1756–1757 (Philadelphia, 1757), pp. 36–7. In its zeal to present strong candidates for the October 1756 Assembly election, the proprietary party nominated and elected Chief Justice William Allen in both Cumberland and Northampton Counties. When Allen chose to represent Cumberland, a new election was ordered for October 25 to...
15Pennsylvania Assembly: Reply to the Governor, 8 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives , 1756–1757 (Philadelphia, 1757), p. 41. Franklin and John Baynton were appointed on Dec. 8, 1756, to reply to Governor Denny’s message of that date on quartering the British troops momentarily expected in Philadelphia. Submitted the same morning, the reply was approved and sent to Denny at once. Since it is quoted in full in the...
16Pennsylvania Assembly: Message to the Governor, 16 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives , 1756 – 1757 (Philadelphia, 1757), pp. 48–9. Franklin and others were appointed on Dec. 16, 1756, to “prepare a Draught of a Message to the Governor, concerning the Report now prevailing in the City of the Governor’s having given Orders for Quartering of Soldiers upon private Houses.” It was brought in, approved, and sent to...
17Pennsylvania Assembly: Message to the Governor, 19 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives , 1756–1757 (Philadelphia, 1757), pp. 50–3. After Pennsylvania became a theater of war in 1755, it was apparent that the province would soon have to provide quarters for British troops. When the remnants of Braddock’s army passed through Philadelphia that summer, the Assembly hastily extended what it considered were the relevant...
18From Benjamin Franklin to Peter Collinson, 19 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Duplicate: Pierpont Morgan Library I have now the Pleasure of yours of the 7th and 10th. of September, and have received the old Book of Voyages, the Magazines for August, and Messrs. Hoadly and Wilson on Electricity. We have hitherto preserv’d a good Agreement with our new Governor; tho’ it seems that some evil Counsellors about him would fain get him into a Quarrel with us; but I hope it...
19Pennsylvania Assembly Committee: Report on a Conference about Quartering, 20 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives , 1756–1757 (Philadelphia, 1757), pp. 53–5. Joseph Fox, John Hughes, Franklin, William Masters, and William Allen were appointed a committee to confer with Governor Denny on the quartering impasse. Before they were admitted to the chamber, Denny told the Council “he chose not to enter into any Altercation, nor to refute the many...
20Pennsylvania Assembly Committee: Report on the Governors’ Message, 24 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives , 1756–1757 (Philadelphia, 1757), pp. 58–9. When the Assembly met on December 21, the day after the acrimonious conference with Governor Denny, it considered the conference minutes and the written message Denny had presented at that time. After some debate, the Assembly expressed its displeasure with Denny’s conduct in a message...
21Richard Peters to the Provincial Commissioners, 26 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Draft: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The Governor commands me to acquaint you that He has received a Letter by Express from Lord Loudun which obliges him to know if the Quarters and Necessaries in Quarters for the Officers and Men demanded by Colonel Bouquet on Friday last will be actually provided and the Hospital repaired and furnished on or before the first day of January....
22Lewis Ourry to ———, 26 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society By visiting the Quarters of the Men belonging to the first Battallion of the Royal American Regiment with the Mayor, Sheriff, and other Magistrates I found that — — 94 Men laid on Straw And that — — 73 had nothing to lay on and not Sufficient quantity of Covering, the Houses on which they are quarter’d not being capable of containing near the number...
23From Benjamin Franklin to Henry Bouquet with Memoranda, [26 December 1756] (Franklin Papers)
Letter: Draft: Library of Congress. Memoranda: I and II : Library of Congress; III : American Philosophical Society After the commissioners agreed at Franklin’s urging to meet all of Colonel Bouquet’s and Lord Loudoun’s demands for quarters, it remained only to decide the details: what quarters and “necessaries” would be provided, how soon, and for how many soldiers? Franklin and Bouquet drew...
24William Denny to the Provincial Commissioners, 29 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Copy: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Mr. Croghan, who has a Deputation from Sir William Johnson to manage Indian Affairs for this Part of the Northern District, has proposed, for the immediate Service of this and the other Colonies, to send one or two Messengers to the Sasquehannah Indians at Otsaningo, and to Teedyuscung at Diahogo, to come to meet him at Harris’s Ferry, where...
25From Benjamin Franklin to Edward and Jane Mecom, 30 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society You will receive this by the Hand of your Son Benjamin, on whose safe Return from the West Indies I sincerely congratulate you. He has settled Accounts with me, and paid the Ballance honourably. He has also clear’d the old Printing House to himself, and sent it to Boston, where he purposes to set up his Business together with Bookselling, which, considering...
26From Benjamin Franklin to William Strahan, 31 December 1756 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : Free Library of Philadelphia This serves only to cover a Bill of Exchange drawn by B. Mecom on you, upon a Supposition that you have receiv’d Bills he sent you from Antigua for about £120 more than the Ballance of your Account. If those Bills are not come to hand or not paid, you need not be at the Trouble of Protesting this Bill; but let it lie in your Hands till you hear farther from...
27To Benjamin Franklin from [Elizabeth Hubbart], [c. December 1756] (Franklin Papers)
AL : American Philosophical Society Now for the Story I promised in my last; and I wish I had the nack of teling it in such a maner, as to afford you as many Hearty Laugh’s, as I have had on the Occation. You must know then, that Littel mischievous Urching Cupid, has got a mighty odd whim in his Head, he has new strung his Bow, and let fly one of his Keenest Arrows directly ame’d; at the Heart...
28Queries on Frontier Settlement and Defense, 1756 (Franklin Papers)
MS not found; reprinted from William Duane, Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin … with a Postliminious Preface (Philadelphia, 1834), I , xvii. Duane states that “we find the following notes made immediately upon his [Franklin’s] appointment to the command” in Northampton County (Jan. 5, 1756), but the present editors know of no reason for assigning such a precise date. The calm tone of the queries...
29Anonymous: Musings near a Cool Spring, 1756 (Franklin Papers)
Transcript: Library Company of Philadelphia Unsigned and undated, these verses have been copied into a Scrap Volume compiled by Pierre Eugène du Simitière. The latest event specifically mentioned is the building of Fort Allen in January 1756 (above, VI, 362–7), and the absence of any direct mention of Franklin’s English mission implies a date earlier than the summer of 1757 and presumably even...
30Poor Richard Improved, 1757 (Franklin Papers)
Poor Richard improved: Being an Almanack and Ephemeris … for the Year of our Lord 1757: … By Richard Saunders, Philom. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by B. Franklin, and D. Hall. (Yale University Library) As no temporal Concern is of more Importance to us than Health , and that depends so much on the Air we every Moment breathe, the Choice of a good wholesome Situation to fix a Dwelling in, is...