written a fanciful epitaph for himself, which was published in the "New England Courant" and has become famous: "The body of Benjamin Frank- lin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its con- tents torn out. and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be lost ; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, re- vised and corrected by the Author."
Franklin left a charming "Autobiography," cov- ering the earlier part of iiis life down to his arrival in London in 17o7. The best edition is the one edited by John Bigelow (Philadelphia, 1868). His works were edited by Jared Sparks (10 vols., Bos- ton, 1850). In 1885 a large mass of unedited manu- scripts, by Franklin or relating to him,, collected by the late Ilenry Stevens, of Vermont, for a long time a resident in London, was purchased by congress. A new edition of Franklin's complete works, edited by John Bigelow and containing much new mate- rial obtained from the Stevens manuscripts, is now in course of publication (10 vols., New York, 1887). See Condorcet's " Eloge de Franklin " (Paris, 1790) : Bauer's •' Washington und Franklin " (Ber- lin, 1803-'(j) : Schmaltz's " Leben Benj. Franklin's " (Leipsic, 1840) ; Parton's "Lite and Times of Ben- jamin Franklin " (2 vols., New York, 1864) ; Mig- net's " Vie de Franklin " (Paris, 1878) ; and Hale's " Franklin in France " (Boston, 1887).
FRANKLIN, Jesse, statesman, b. in Orange
county, Va., 24 March, 1760 ; d. in Surry county,
N. C., in September, 1823. His father removed to
North Carolina just before the Revolution. Jesse
served as major in the Revolutionary war, was a
member of the house of delegates of North Caro-
lina in 1794, 1797, and 1798, and a member of the
state senate in 1805-'6, a member of congress from
7 Dec, 1795, till 3 March, 1797, U. S. senator from
4 March, 1799, till 3 March, 1805, and again from
4 March, 1807, till 3 March, 1813, acting a part of
the time as president pro tempore of the senate.
In 1816 he was appointed by the president a com-
missioner to treat with the Chickasaw Indians, and
in 1S20 he was elected governor of North Carolina.
FRANKLIN, John, pioneer, b. in Canaan,
Conn., 26 Sept., 1749 ; d. in Athens, Pa., 1 March,
1831. He removed to the Wyoming valley in
1775, settled in Huntington, and was an active
participant in the settlement of that region. Dur-
ing the Revolution he was a captain in the 24th
regiment of Connecticut militia, was with his com-
pany in the Sullivan campaign, and was severely
wounded in the shoulder at the battle or skirmish
at Chemung. He was a justice of the peace, colo-
nel of militia, and several times member of as-
sembly. He was an active, energetic, and resolute
man, with talents of a high order, much beloved
and confided in by the people. He and Col. Jen-
kins stood side by side in their resistance to the
encroachments -of the " Pennimites " upon their
rights and possessions, and for thirty years sus-
tained the rights of the settlers against the pro-
prietors and the state who were led by Alexander
Patterson, Gen. John Armstrong, and Col. Timo-
thy Pickering. Franklin was kidnapped by Pick-
ering with a band of frontier roughs, 2 Oct., 1787,
taken to Philadelphia, imprisoned, loaded with
irons, and detained fourteen months without trial.
FRANKLIN, Sir John, English explorer, b. at
Spilsby, Lincolnshire, 16 April, 1786; d. in the
arctic regions, near lat. 69° 37' N., Ion. 98° 4' W.,
11 June, 1847. He was destined for the church,
but his father yielded to the boy's desire to become
a sailor, and procured him admission to the navy
as a midshipman at the age of fourteen. He first
served on board the " Polyphemus," and was at the
battle of Copenhagen, 2 April, 1801. Two months
later he joined the " Investigator," and was com-
missioned by the English government to exploie
and map the coasts of Australia. After nearly two
years spent in this service, he sailed for home in
the store-ship " Porpoise " ; but that vessel was
wrecked, 18 Aug., 1803, on a reef about 200 miles
from the coast of Australia, where Franklin and his
companions remained for fifty days. He was finally
rescued and carried to England, where he joined the
ship-of-the-line " Bellerophon," and in 1805 took
part in the battle of Trafalgar. lie served as 2d
lieutenant in the " Bedford " on the coast of the
United States during the war of 1812-'15, and
commanded the boats of the " Bedford" in a fight
with the U. S. gun-boats at New Orleans, one of
which he boarded and captured. He was wounded
in this engagement, and for his gallantry was made
a 1st lieutenant. In 1818, the British government
having fitted out an expedition to attempt the pas-
sage to India by crossing the polar sea to the north
of Spitzbergen, Franklin was appointed to the
command of the " Trent," one of the two vessels
of the expedition, the other, the " Dorothea," being
commanded by Capt. Buchan. After passing lat.
80° N. the "Dorothea" received so much damage
from the ice that her immediate return to England
was decided on. Franklin begged to be permitted
to continue the voyage with the " Trent " alone,
but Capt. Buchan would not consent, his vessel be-
ing almost in a sinking condition. In 1819 he was
appointed to the command of an expedition to
travel overland from Hudson's bay to the Arctic
ocean, through Rupert's Land, and explore the
coast of America eastward from the Coppermine
river, while Lieut. Parry was despatched with two
vessels to Lancaster sound. The expedition win-
tered the first year on the Saskatchewan river, and
was fed by the Hudson's bay company ; the second
winter was spent on the " barren grounds," the
party subsisting on game and fish procured by
their own exertions, or purchased from their native
neighbors. In the following summer the expedi-
tion descended the Coppermine river, and surveyed
a considerable extent of the sea-coast to the east-
ward. Franklin returned to England in 1822.
Shortly after his arrival he was made a post-cap-
tain, and elected a fellow of the Royal society. In
1825 he submitted a " plan for an expedition over-
land to the mouth of the Mackenzie river, and
thence by sea to the northwest extremity of Amer-
ica, with the combined object also of surveying the
coast between the Mackenzie and Coppermine riv-
ers." The proposition was accepted, and he was
appointed to superintend the expedition. He em-
barked at Liverpool, 16 Feb., 1825, descended the
Mackenzie river, and traced the coast-line through
thirty-seven degrees of longitude, from the mouth
of the Coppermine river, where his former survey
began, to near the 150th meridian, and approached
within 160 miles of the most easterly point attained
by Capt. Beechey, who was co-operating with him
from Behring's straits. (See Beechey, Frederick
William.) In 1829 he was knighted, and received
the degree of D. C. L. from Oxford university, and
the gold medal of the Geographical society of Paris.
His next official employment was on the Mediter-
ranean station in 1830, in command of the "Rain-
bow." In 1836 he was made governor of Tasma-
nia, in which office he continued till 1843. He was
a very popular governor, and originated and car-
ried out many measures of importance to the
colony. In 1845 he was appointed to the com-
mand of a new expedition to discover the north-
