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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC01721 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to 1787 |
| Title | Benjamin Franklin to Jane Mecom on her life in Boston and his life of public service |
| Date | 4 November 1787 |
| Author | Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790) |
| Recipient | Mecom, Jane |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Writes to his sister in Boston about his feelings on his life of public service. Tells her that she should be direct in letting him know what she needs as he is willing to help her in any way. States that he planned to decline serving another year as President (possibly of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania) but that the country demanded him. Informs that he has been in public office for 50 years now. Writes that upon being sent to France, he observed to a friend that " ... the Publick having as it were eaten my Flesh, seem'd now resolv'd to pick my Bones ..." He gently complains of being unanimously elected a third time to state office but remarks, "This universal and unbounded Confidence of a whole People, flatters my Vanity much more than a Peerage would do." Marked no. 2 at the top of the first page. With some cross-outs on second page. |
| Subjects | Election Government and Civics Women's History Children and Family |
| People | Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790) Mecom, Jane Franklin (1712-1794) |
| Place written | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Theme | Government & Politics; Foreign Affairs; Women in American History |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859 |
| Additional Information | Signer of the U.S. Constitution. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |