My Genealogy Home Page:Information about JOHN FRANKLIN
JOHN FRANKLIN (b. 02 Jun 1729, d. Jan 1819)
Notes for JOHN FRANKLIN:
Name: John FRANKLIN
Sex: M
Birth: 2 JUN 1729 in Boston, Suffolk, MA
Death: 1819 in Morganton, Burke, NC of Age - died at 90
Fact 1: 2 JUN 1729 Born Boston, MA City Documents Nos. 130 & 43
Fact 2: 11 FEB 1754 Joined Geo. Washington's first army. Doc'm'td.
Fact 3: 9 JUL 1754 At Ft. Necessity Reported to Capt. Robt. Stobo
Fact 4: 7 JUL 1756 On payroll, Capt. Thomas Waggoner of Virginia
Fact 5: 1757 Ft. Holland, VA, reporting to Capt. Waggoner
Fact 6: 21 JAN 1758 Ft. George, VA, reporting to Capt. Tho' Waggoner
Fact 7: 1759 Married Phoebe (Parker) (Abt. 1759)
Fact 8: 1760 John Franklin, Jr. b. at Ft. Stump, VA now WVA
Fact 9: 1764 At end of Fr. & Ind. War moved from VA to NC
Fact 10: 1765 Lived in Rowan Co., NC at head of Silver Creek
Fact 11: 1778 Living on Lower Creek, Burke Co., NC
Fact 12: 1813 Made his will. Documented.
Fact 13: BET. 1818 - 1819 Died, and in Jan. 1919 his will was probated.
Medical Information: Brown skin, New England sailor, straight brown hair, well made, large eye brows. The foregoing is from a size roll, Capt. Tho' Waggener, Sept. 19, 1756, Virginia.
Note:
John Franklin, Senior, was born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 02, 1729. He was the second John Franklin born to Captain David Franklin, a mariner, and his wife, Elizabeth Ayres, the first John born to them having died. (documented)
When John was 9 years old his father drowned after falling from a wharf. His mother became executrix of his father's estate, and within a short time married Solomon Lincoln and moved her family to Scituate in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. (documented)
The only thing known about John Franklin, at present, from the time he moved into the Lincoln household until he showed up in Virginia and joined George Washington's first army on February 11, 1754, is that he had training as a mariner. Whether he learned to sail in the sugar, molasses, rum and slave trade, or on board some fishing vessel out of an east coast port is unknown. In the Size Roll made for him when he joined Washington's army in February, 1754 he is described as "brown", which leads me to believe he was sailing in hot, southern climates at that time of year. John was 24 in February of 1754. By his age, he told George Washington, who recruited him for his first army, that he was born in 1729. I think perhaps his mother had died by then, because there is no evidence to date which reveals he ever returned to Massachusetts. (One hostorian said she died after 1762 - I have not followed up - DWF.)
(statements are documented)
John was at Ft. Necessity with Washington, and spent a number of years in various forts in the western mountains of Virginia. All of his military duty in those fortifications was served under the command of Captain Thomas Waggoner. He may also have been at Fort Duquense located at the forks of the Ohio in Pennsylvania. He may also have been at Braddock's defeat, Capt. Waggoner was wounded during that engagement. (documented)
In 1759, or thereabouts, family tradition has it he married Phoebe Parker. No written proof has ever turned up showing that she was, indeed, a Parker. In the area in which he served between 1754 and 1763 there were two Forts Parker, and a Parker plantation. If he had always dreamed of marrying a Parker, he was certainly in the right place.
In 1764, at the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, when John Franklin, Jr. was four years old, the family moved to North Carolina. In a deposition in which he applied for a pension for having fought in the American Revolution, John Junior stated he was born at Stump Fort, Virginia. After much research, and a trip to West Virginia, Hardy County, just out of Moorefield, I found the old Michael Stump plantation, originally surveyed by George Washington, along the South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac. It was in this area Forts Pleasant, Holland and George were located. John, Sr., served in all three. I believe Michael Stump either built a fort, or occupied Ft. George, which was adjacent to his farm, and either the one he built, or one he occupied became known, at least locally, as Fort Stump. From a document in my posession I have conclusive proof John Franklin was not only in the area during the dates aforesaid, but that he knew the people who lived there. (statements documented)
After the French and Indian War, for which John was given bounties of land, he moved his family to Rowan later Burke County, NC. He would have moved to the region in 1764. He first settled at the head of Silver Creek, and later on Lower Creek, near Chesterfield in Burke County, where he remained the rest of his life. (documented)
Charles McDowell settled across the Catawba from John Franklin, and the two may have actually had land that joined, if not completely separated by the river. From Burke County, North Carolina Land Records, 1778, item #779, p. 261, reads: CHARLES MCDOWELL and ALEXANDER ERWIN, 300 acres on Jacobs Fork of Catawba River on both sides of fork including improvements they bought of JOHN FRANKLIN and since claimed by WILLIAM RAMSEY and "held by a strong hand". Entered 15 July 1778. McDowell was commander of a militia in his district, and recruited officers and men to help thwart British effort in the region during the revolution. (documented)
In eary 1776 the British revealed plans to invade the lower part of North Carolina, working in unison with loyalist militiamen recruited from central and southeastern parts of the region. A rendezvous was planned near Wilmington. On learning of the proposed invasion, an alarm was spread throughout the military districts of the area. General Griffith Rutherford, of Salisbury District, immediately began to bring together a brigade to march against the Loyalists. The resulting campaign was called the "Cross Creek Expedition". McDowell served as a field officer on this campaign. Other officers from McDowell's area included John Hardin, Hugh Brevard, JOHN FRANKLIN, Reubin White, William Davidson, and Christopher Beekman. (documented)
General Rutherford's brigade arrived in Cross Creek shortly after the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, and thus did not participate in the main action which thwarted the invasion attempt. They did assist in "mop-up" activities, arresting ardent Tories, confiscating arms and property. Rutherford, McDowell, and the remainder of the force then returned home after a rather easy and uneventful campaign. (documented)
John Franklin received bounties of land for his activities during the revolution and the French and Indian War. Although no corroborating evidence has been found to confirm it, I believe the John Franklin, an officer with McDowell at Cross Creek, was my great grandfather four times removed. He left a total of 721 acres to his sons at his death, some of which he described in his will as "bounty" land. (land bounties documented)
Over sixty years ago a well meaning Franklin placed a headstone on Samuel Franklin's grave. Samuel, born in 1780, was one of John's many children. The stone reads in part that Samuel Franklin was a son of John who was brother to Benjamin of American fame. The statement is not true. There is all sorts of documented evidence on the death of Ben's brother, John, deputy postmaster of Boston,who died there in, in BOSTON, in January of 1756. John's second wife became the first post-mistress in the colonies.
When the mounting evidence pointed up the facts, the John/Ben relationship proponents now claim that the John of Burke County was Ben's nephew, who was a son of brother John, the Boston postmaster.
When we examine the date of birth of John, Ben's nephew, it's quite clear there is no connection. (there is NO documentation to prove a John Franklin was ressurrected from the sea and moved to Burke County, NC. When you find a proponent of this JOHN/BEN relationship, ask for proof. None will be forthcoming.)
From THE PAPERS OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Vol. 1 - Jan. 6, 1706 - Dec. 31, 1734, Leonard W. Larabee, Editor, Whitfield J. Bell, Jr., Assistant Editor, we find a genealogy extracted from the papers of Benjamin which are in the Yale University Library. For Josiah's son, John, the genealogy reads as follows:
C.8 JOHN FRANKLIN (brother of BF), b. Boston, Dec. 7, 1690; d. Boston, Jan. 20, 1756; tallow-chandler soapmaker; deputy postmaster of Boston. Married (1) Mary Gooch; married (2) Elizabeth Gooch (Hubbart or Hubbard). Issue by wife Mary:
C.8 - 1 JOHN FRANKLIN (nephew of BF), born JUNE 17, 1716. LOST AT SEA.
Other records show: LOST AT SEA - A YOUNG MAN GROWN. (documented)
When John Franklin joined Washington's army in Virginia in February of 1754 he told George he was a sailor from New England (Boston, MA is in New England), and that he was 24 years old. The John Franklin, whose father, David, was a sailor, who was born in Boston on June 2, 1729, was 24 years old in February of 1754. (documented)
In February of 1754 John Franklin, Ben's nephew, would have been 38. If the John Franklin in the paragraph above was Benjamin's nephew, why did he lie to Washington about his age? George W. recruited men a lot older than 38 for his trek to the forks of the Ohio. He took as many warm bodies as he could get, regardless of age. Many were approaching 70. If you read the history of the battle of Ft. Necessity you'll learn he also took many women and some Indians along. (documented)
John Franklin of Burke County, NC made a statement on October 23, 1788 that he was born June 2, 1727, was 60 years old, and therefore exempt from paying poll tax. (documented)
If the John Franklin in the paragraph above was Benjamin Franklin's nephew he would have been 72 in the year 1788. WHY DID HE KEEP TRYING TO PASS HIMSELF OFF AS THIRTEEN YEARS YOUNGER THAN HE REALLY WAS, FIRST TO WASHINGTON AND SECOND TO THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA? The truth was, our John Franklin, born June 2, 1729 WAS 13 years younger than Ben's nephew! (documented)
From Bockstruck's VIRGINIA'S COLONIAL SOLDIERS we read: "SIZE ROLL of Captain Thomas Waggener's Company, 19 Sept. 1756. Roll gave name, height, age, complexion, country, trade, by whom enlisted, and description.
John Franklin, 5'6", 27, brown, New England, sailor, Capt. Thomas Waggener, brown straight hair, well made, large eye brows". (documented)
In September of 1756 our John Franklin who settled in North Carolina was, indeed, 27 years old. Ben's nephew, if he were alive at the time, would have been 40.
WHAT HAPPENED TO BEN'S NEPHEW?
In Murtie June Clark's COLONIAL SOLDIERS OF THE SOUTH, 1732-1774, page 149, there is a roster of Colonel Gooch's regiment aboard His Majesty's Ship CUMBERLAND, listing those who fought in the Battle of Jenkin's Ear. Line 59 reads:
John Francklin, died November 10, 1741 - Experiment (He either died aboard ship of wounds in the battle, or from some illness or disease).(documented)
FACT 1: If he were Ben's nephew, he would have been 24 in 1741, a YOUNG MAN GROWN. Remember, too, the maiden name of his mother and stepmother was - GOOCH. Were the colonel and the sisters related? I am not saying that the John Franklin who died in 1741 was Ben's nephew, but he COULD have been. It's more reasonable to believe he was than to believe he was "born again" and went to North Carolina.
FACT 2: When Ben's brother, John, died in 1756, HE DID NOT MENTION HIS SON, JOHN JUNIOR, IN HIS WILL, not even to disown him. The deputy postmaster of Boston left considerable property, by number of items, to several people. (documented)
FACT 3: John, Jr., was not memtioned in Benjamin's will. Ben left several items to other nephews.
FACT 4: George Washington was a great fan of Benjamin Franklin. They corresponded occasionally, and on his death, Ben left a walking stick to George. I believe Ben's newhew, had he been in Washington's army, would have been made at least an ensign out of respect the colonel had for the old statesman. In the service of Washington and Waggoner, our John Franklin never rose above the rank of corporal.
It is without doubt our John Franklin of North Carolina was a son of David Franklin and Elizabeth Ayres of Boston. It is without doubt this son was in the French and Indian War, first recruited by George Washington, himself, and later by one of Washington's officers, Capt. Thomas Waggoner. John served on the Virginia frontier from 1754 to 1763. It is without doubt a Ft. Stump, at least locally, existed in western Virginia, now Hardy County, West Virginia, and was located on or near the Michael Stump Plantation near what is now Moorefield, West Virginia. (Forts documented).
On a roster of soldiers who earned land bounties for their services in the French and Indian War, among several names, are listed Thomas Buffington and John Franklin. Years after the war Col. Buffington wrote John at his home in Burke County, NC, asking about his military discharge and some other papers that had reference to the French and Indian War. That letter, John and Phoebe's will, and a letter from my great great grandfather, Samuel Joseph Franklin, Jr., to his parents, Sam, Sr., were found in a "huzzy poke" hung on a peg under the stairwell of an old house being dismantled. (documented)
John Franklin, Sr., of Burke County, North Carolina, in my judgment, left a trail a mile wide back to his ancestry. John had brothers named Jonathan, John and David, a sister named Anna. His father was David, and his paternal grandfather was Jonathan. His maternal grandfather was Moses, his mother and grandmother were Elizabeth. John named sons John, David, Moses, Jonathan, and a daughter, Anna. I have not found an Elizabeth, but odds are one was born, and may have been left in the oldest of two cemeteries on the Michael Stump Plantation in West Virginia.
Some say John Franklin the fife major in Gideon Lamb's regiment was ours. He was not. Gideon Lamb's Regiment was from eastern North Carolina. There is no evidence to suggest John Franklin of western NC ever went to eastern North Carolina to blow a flute during the revolution.
Some say the John Franklin who was Captain, North Carolina Militia at King's Mountain, October 1780, and who died September 29, 1823 was our Burke County, NC John Franklin. He was not. In the 1820 Federal Census for Burke County, NC Phoebe Franklin, John's wife, is listed as HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD which points up the fact John, Sr., had deceased PRIOR to the date of the census in 1820. We know that to be the winter of 1818/1819. (documented)
And finally, in WFT Volume 3, No. 5833 is recorded more information on John Franklin, Sr., and John Franklin, Jr., Benjamin's brother and nephew. The reporter states that John Franklin, Jr.,(Benjamin's nephew) married Lydia Doolittle sometime between WFT Est. 1734-1780. On August 26, 1774, when John, Jr., was 58 years old, Lydia Franklin was born to the union. Lydia Franklin married Fendel Sutherlin in Burke County, NC in 1790. Two things about the information strike me immediately. John Franklin, Jr. could not have died at sea at the age of 58, A YOUNG MAN GROWN. And too, I wonder why John, Jr., was left out of his father's will when, according to the dates given, Junior was still alive when his father died. If John, Sr., wanted to leave his only living offspring out of his will, it seems to me he would have mentioned John, Jr., and some reason for doing so in the document. I have read scores of old wills. Many who suffered the father's wrath, were left a dollar or less, or were mentioned by name, and were left nothing. (John Franklin, Ben's brother, left a written will)
In the 30 years I've researched my family I've tried to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this John Franklin of Boston and Burke County North Carolina was somehow related to Benjamin Franklin. In trying to make a connection I have proven to my satisfaction he was not. All my research to that end simply winds up at a dead end. To those with whom I corresponded early on I owe you an apology. You have been long suffering with me.
I am convienced beyond an ounce of doubt that my Franklin family lineage, eleven generations of us, is as follows:
Jonathan Franklin of Boston and Haverhill, Massachusetts - killed by Indians
Married Sarah (Smith) [Stevens] who married (3) John Fields (documented)
David Franklin of Haverhill, Boston, and Hull, MA - Captain of the sloop George
Married Elizabeth Ayres who married (2) Solomon Lincoln (documented)
John Franklin of Boston, MA and Burke Co., NC (documented)
Married Phoebe (Parker, according to family tradition)
Samuel Joseph Franklin, Sr. of Burke and Avery Counties, NC
Married Dorcus Parker (documented)
Samuel Joseph Franklin, Jr. of Linville Falls, Avery, NC and Fairmount, Gordon, GA
Married Senith Matilda Ballew (documented)
George Washington Franklin of Fairmount & Bartow Co., Ga., & Sherman, Grayson, TX
Married Mary Ann Elizabeth Presley (documented)
John William Franklin of Fairmount, Georgia and Sherman, Grayson, Texas
Married Luvenia Elizabeth Pack (documented)
Otis Howard Franklin of Sherman, Grayson, Texas
Married Vonnie Jane Anderson (documented)
Dorsey Wayne Franklin of Sherman, Grayson, Texas and Twinsburg, Summit, Ohio
Married Margaret Ann Hopkins (documented)
Terasa Lyn Franklin of Tulsa, OK, Springfield, MO and Twinsburg, OH
Married Gregory Alan Gilley (documented)
Mackenzie and Madelyn Gilley, b. respectively 1991 and 1995 (documented)
It has been widely reported that this John Franklin of Burke County NC was born in England in 1710, and was a son of Benjamin's uncle, John, a dyer of cloth, who lived in England. He was not. Benjamin's uncle John had 5 daughters, a son, Thomas, who lived and died in England, and a grandson Thomas Franklin, Jr., who, some say, never married, and lived out his life in England. (documented) Using this date they claim John of Burke died at the age of 103, (1710-1813) (The foregoing paragraph is from the McNaught history. No documentation)
D. W. Franklin
3018 Mathers Way
Twinsburg, OH 44087
(330) 963-7725
Note:
Will of John Franklin, County Records, Burke Co., N. C., Wills 1793-1825 as published in: The Carolina Genealogists No. 49, Winter 1983-1984.
Pg. 94- Will of John Franklin, Senior. To my well beloved wife Phebe Franklin all my household furniture and livestock. To my son John Franklin 200 acres conveyed to him by deed. To David Franklin 100 acres that I purchased from my son John Franklin. To my son Moses Franklin 100 acres that I purchased from Tindell [sic] Sutherland. To my son Jonathan Franklin 271 acres being part of two grants originally granted me by the State and conveyed by me to the said Jonathan on 6-1-1813, with a life's estate and farming tools to my son Jonathan. To my son Samuel Franklin 100 acres off the west side of the 320 acres tract on which I reside, which was laid off and surveyed 6-1-1813 by William W. Erwin and adjoins the said Erwin and James Kincaid. To my grand-daughter Polly Franklin [daughter of Jonathan Franklin, my son] who now lives with me, furniture. To my daughters Jamima, Phebe, Anna, Lyddia, Mary and Rachel $2.50 each. Son Jonathan named executor. Signed 6-4-1813 John Franckline [Seal]. Witnesses: Jonathan Proved at Jan. term, 1819 by Marcus D.S.F. Erwin
Children
John FRANKLIN b: 1760 in Ft. Stump, VA, Now near Moorefield, Hardy County, West Virginia
David FRANKLIN b: BET. 1762 - 1764 in Fort Stump, VA or Rowen Co., NC
Moses FRANKLIN b: 1765 in Fort Stump, VA or Rowan County, NC
Jemima FRANKLIN b: OCT 1767 in Burke County, NC
Jonathan FRANKLIN b: BET. 1774 - 1776 in Rowen Co. NC or Morganton, Burke, NC
Anna FRANKLIN b: BET. 1777 - 1778 in Burke County, NC
Samuel Joseph FRANKLIN b: 1780 in Burke County, NC
Phoebe FRANKLIN b: BET. 1780 - 1782 in Burke County, NC
Lydia FRANKLIN b: BET. 1786 - 1792 in Burke County, NC
Mary FRANKLIN b: BET. 1786 - 1792
Rachel FRANKLIN b: 4 FEB 1790 in Burke County, NC
More About JOHN FRANKLIN and PHOEBE PARKER:
Marriage: Abt. 1759, Hardy Co., W. VA..
Children of JOHN FRANKLIN and PHOEBE PARKER are:
- +SAMUEL Joseph FRANKLIN, Sr., b. 1780, BURKE CO, NC, d. 1857, LINVILLE FALLS, BURKE CO, NC.