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Deborah Read led an extraordinary life as common-law wife to Benjamin Franklin. She was his stoic caretaker for most of his life in Philadelphia..
Read's early 18th century history started with an ill-fated first marriage—which led to a pragmatic bond with Franklin.
Deborah Read was born circa 1708. Likely in Birmingham, England.
Her family immigrated to Pennsylvania when she was just three years old. They settled in Philadelphia where she would live till she died.
It was here she would meet her future husband, Benjamin Franklin.
In 1723, a 15-year old Deborah Read would have an eventful encounter with a 17-year-old Benjamin Franklin as he was passing her Philadelphia home from work.
The beginning of their courtship would begin there.
Benjamin Franklin had to go away to London in 1725.
Being alone, Deborah Read married a man named John Rogers in Philadelphia. As she was looking to move away from her early courtship with Benjamin Franklin.
However, within mere months of their marriage, Rogers abandoned Read.
He stole her dowry and left her in financial ruin.
Because she was not officially divorced, Deborah Read made the pragmatic decision in 1730 to enter into a common-law marriage with Benjamin Franklin.
Being back in America, Franklin rekindled their earlier courtship.
The whole thing reflected the complexity of Read's personal situation. They also had to live by 18th-century British American norms regarding relationships.
Though the marriage was bizarre in nature, Read and Franklin's union lasted decades.
They even had two children together.
In the 1750s, Benjamin Franklin decided to go back to London. Deborah Read declined to accompany him. As she feared the oceans.
She preferred to remain in Philadelphia.
Read had an anxiety about seafaring travel. This would keep her distanced from Franklin for years at a time.
Though geographically separated, Read and Franklin maintained communication with regular correspondence.
She would oversee daily household duties at home.
When Franklin was away, Deborah Read managed the Franklin family's households and all the Franklin business interests in Philadelphia.
She did this while lacking a formal education.
Read showed that she had savvy leadership and intelligence when she ran the fortunes of Franklin's printing shop and other Franklin ventures.
Read's skillful oversight of commercial affairs complemented Franklin's known talents.
In 1768, Deborah Read suffered the first in a series of debilitating strokes.
It would be the start of a horrible decline in physical and mental health in the years to come.
She was plagued with grim physical and mental effects from the strokes. These include depression.
Read’s final decade was a nightmare.
Despite her suffering, Franklin would not return from France to visit her. Only writing to her from time to time until her death in 1774.
Benjamin Franklin would never see her alive again.
In December 1774, Deborah Read suffered a terminal stroke. This led to her death on December 19th.
She would be buried in Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia.
She would lay there six feet under until Benjamin Franklin was buried beside her after his death in 1790.
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