Deborah "Debby" READ^[1]

1708 - 1774  (66 years)

• Name	Deborah "Debby" READ
  Nickname	Debby
  Born	14 Feb 1708	Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
  Gender	Female
  FamilySearch ID	MVVD-FFG
  _UID	C5CB7A6C5E7749698C636A093A8D6C21B3B3
  Died	24 Dec 1774	Philadelphia, British Colonial America
  Person ID	I594777067	Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
  Last Modified	5 Sep 2024

  
  

  Father	John READ,   b. 22 Apr 1677, England ,   d. 12 Sep 1724, Philadelphia, British Colonial America  (Age 47 years)
  Mother	Sarah WHITE,   b. 10 Dec 1675, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England ,   d. 1761, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America  (Age 85 years)
  Married	1701  [2]
  Family ID	F536731593	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	John ROGERS,   b. 1706, England ,   d. Abt 1728, British West Indies  (Age 22 years)
  Married	5 Aug 1725	Christ Church And Saint Peters, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  Last Modified	5 Sep 2024
  Family ID	F536731597	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Benjamin FRANKLIN,   b. 17 Jan 1706, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America ,   d. 17 Apr 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States  (Age 84 years)
  Married	1 Sep 1730	Philadelphia, British Colonial America
  Children	1. William FRANKLIN,   b. 1731, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. 16 Nov 1813, London, London, England  (Age 82 years)   2. Francis Folger FRANKLIN,   b. 20 Oct 1732, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America ,   d. 21 Nov 1736, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America  (Age 4 years)   3. Sarah FRANKLIN,   b. 31 Aug 1743, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America ,   d. 5 Oct 1808, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States  (Age 65 years)   4. William Temple FRANKLIN,   b. 22 Feb 1762, London, England, United Kingdom ,   d. 25 May 1823, Paris, Ville-de-Paris, District of the Paris Region, France  (Age 61 years)
  Last Modified	5 Sep 2024
  Family ID	F536731598	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Deborah Read Franklin

  
  

• Notes

  Deborah Read was born about 1707 to John Read and Sarah White, the second of seven children.[1] Deborah first met Benjamin Franklin in 1723 at age 15; he was 17 and had just arrived in Philadelphia. He soon began boarding at the Read home, and they grew close and discussed marriage. When Franklin left the following year to set up his own printing house and met complications, Deborah's mother sought a different suitor for her daughter.[1][2] Deborah married John Rogers in 1725, and within weeks learned he already had a family in England. She left Rogers and returned to her mother's home. By 1728, Franklin returned to Philadelphia with a successful printing house. The two reunited and were joined in common-law marriage on September 1, 1730.[2] They had two children together, Francis Folger Franklin, and Sarah Franklin Bache.[1] They also raised William Franklin together, Franklin's illegitimate son.[2] She operated a stationery shop out of the front of Ben's printing house.[2] Her fear of ocean voyages prevented her from traveling with Ben, so she spent many years alone in Philadelphia while Ben was in Europe.[2] They were apart while Ben traveled in England from 1757 to 1762, and left again around 1765. On December 19, 1774, while Ben was still away in England, she died unexpectedly of a stroke. They had spent only two of the last seventeen years of Deborah's life together. She is buried with Benjamin Franklin at Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia.[2][3] Sources ? 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Deborah Read Franklin", History of American Women. ? 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Stephen Coss. "What Led Benjamin Franklin to Live Estranged From His Wife for Nearly Two Decades?" Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/benjamin-franklin-estranged-wife-nearly-two-decades-180964400/ ? Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 08 June 2019), memorial page for Deborah Read Franklin (1708– 19 Dec 1774), Find A Grave: Memorial #9405519, citing Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by Frank W Nichols (contributor 46614579) . https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Read Christ Church (Philadelphia, Pa.), "Baptisms, marriages, and burials, Christ Church, 1719-1750," Philadelphia Congregations Early Records, accessed May 14, 2022, https://philadelphiacongregations.org/records/item/ChristChurch.RectorsRegisters_BaptismsMarriagesBurials1717-1749_v029. Samuel Garrigues Jun'r / Rebecca Haydock marriage

  
  

• Sources

  [SAuth] Jim Carney, compiled by James H Carney [(E-ADDRESS) FOR PRIVATE USE Queensland 4556 AUSTRALIA. [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 5 Sep 2024), entry for John Read, person ID LZ2C-PQF. (Reliability: 3).