Poor Richard's Almanac
The last Poor Richard's Almanac compiled and written by Ben Franklin was ready and published for the beginning of 1758. David Hall took over after that.
Bible and Cato
We always wonder what the colonies were reading other than the Bible? And most read nothing but the Bible. So for a historian not to know the Bible or have an acquaintance with its stories can cause a blind spot. Just as not knowing that popular play on Cato can cause many researchers to miss where a popular quote originated and how extensive that quote was in all of its later re-incarnations.
Geneva Bible
And the popular Bible was surprisingly the Geneva Bible and not the King James version. The Protestants and Puritans favored this version over the Church of England. The Geneva Bible was the first to number the passages or verses in the Bible for easy reference. And it had notes in the margins.
Bibliothèque (French) and Bibliothek (German) and Biblioteka (Poland) and Norway and the Netherlands all had roots in what the Bible meant in the first place: Scrolls, books, a plurality of texts.
From Oxford English Dictionary: Middle English: via Old French from ecclesiastical Latin biblia, from Greek (ta) biblia ‘(the) books’, from biblion ‘book’, originally a diminutive of biblos ‘papyrus, scroll’, of Semitic origin.
Other Libraries
But what other libraries were available?
The leaders had access to personal libraries. John Mercer had one of the biggest libraries in Marlborough VA. We have his list of books here. Who was John Mercer? He is the same Mercer as the Mercer Library of George Mason University. John Mercer was the father of our Captain George Mercer who a local group portrays as one of the companies that helped build Fort Loudoun. And William Byrd III inherited a huge library from William Byrd II.
But what library was available to the common man?
Poor Richard's Almanac
Perhaps an almanac could bring the world to the common man. That would be Poor Richard's Almanac. Ben Franklin based it on a popular publication called Poor Robin.
We wonder if one of those Poor Richard Almanacs ever arrived by post rider to Fort Loudoun, Winchester VA?
Maybe some editions earlier than August 1756 might have arrived, because that is when Ben Franklin had to terminate his postal service to Fort Loudoun Winchester VA.
But that post is continued after August 1756. A deal is cut to meet halfway.
First and Last Almanac:
Ten Thousand copies are alleged to have been published yearly from 1732 to 1758.
December 19, 1732 was Ben Franklin's first Poor Richard's Almanac.
The last Poor Richard's Almanack to be compiled and authored by Ben Franklin is published for the year 1758.
It's his 26th. It's his last.
Hey, he's 50 years old. He's got a lot going on. He's got to offload something. And this he does. The next Poor Richard's Almanac gets produced by his partner, David Hall.
Source of this picture is an auction site so this link might be broken when it sells.
Popular almanac this is.
the contents of this almanac
make it the best known of all,
for it is the direct source
of the most widely reprinted of all Franklin’s writings,
even including the autobiography.
Still, we wonder if any of the originals made it to Winchester VA of those 10,000 issues?
Once he arrives in England on 26 July 1757, he stops at Stonehenge.
He writes nothing about it at the time. Years later, I mean decades later, he writes about that Stonehenge.
But Ben Franklin was busy on many other matters.
His multi tasking not only involved the science community wanting to discuss his discoveries, there was also his official reason for going to England.
His official task?
Ben Franklin was tasked to represent the Pennsylvania legislators to the Proprietor.
They weren't getting along. Major grid lock.
The legislators want the Proprietor to contribute financially to the war effort. Proprietor Thomas Penn balked at this request. This struggle led Ben Franklin to wish first for the Crown to take over and make this a Royal or Crown Colony instead of this Proprietorship. The colony stayed a proprietorship instead of becoming a Royal Colony. All the colonies had different forms of government.
Amidst all of this?
Ben Franklin is wrapping up his last almanac.
Last version produced by Ben Franklin
is No. 26 for 1758
Poor Richard improved: Being an Almanack and Ephemeris … for the Year of our Lord 1758: … By Richard Saunders, Philom. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by B. Franklin, and D. Hall. (Yale University Library)
This is the twenty-sixth and last almanac
in this series which Franklin prepared himself;
[Blog Editor note: David Hall agrees to a deal to continue the postal service. Col George Washington and his officers would contribute money to pay a private rider from Winchester to Lancaster if David Hall could send them the mail and publications from Philly to Lancaster.]
Appropriately, the contents of this almanac
make it the best known of all,
for it is the direct source
of the most widely reprinted of all Franklin’s writings,
even including the autobiography.
This preface is dated July 7, 1757, indicating that Franklin wrote it —or at least finished it—while at sea on his way to England. He may have begun the writing while in New York or Woodbridge during the long wait before setting sail, and probably all the material for the almanac except the preface was in Hall’s hands before Franklin’s ship had weighed anchor at Sandy Hook.
Franklin probably sent back the copy for the preface by the Earl of Leicester packet, Captain Morris, which reached New York on September 10 [1757] after a fast passage of thirty-three days from Falmouth.
The Gazette announced, September 15, [1757] that Poor Richard improved for 1758 was “now in the Press and speedily will be published,” and advertised it as “just published” in the issue of October 6 [1757].
Source:
This is the End of our Lead Story.
Skip around.
Read bits and pieces at your leisure.
Blog compiled and authored by Jim Moyer 1/11/2022, updated 1/16/2022
Connections to Fort Loudoun
We are still tracking Ben Franklin's activities, only because he was pretty big in the French and Indian War.
He supervised building and selecting of fort locations all along the Blue Ridge Mountains roughly along today's Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. For the construction of Fort Allen in PA, Ben Franklin brings his son to help. That son will become a Royal Gov of NJ and stay loyal to the Crown. Ben Franklin's relationship to this son is destroyed even to the point of not interceding for him rotting in a Patriot jail.
Then there's Ben Franklin's earlier service to the Crown, providing wagons and horses for the Braddock Expedition.
Mail Service from Ben Franklin to Winchester:
His connection to our Fort Loudoun in Winchester VA is that our fort was a postal destination for his mail system.
By August 1756, this service provided by Ben Franklin to Fort Loudoun Winchester VA was terminated.
But the post is saved !
Temporarily.
A deal is cut where the officers of the Virginia Regiment contribute funds to pay the cost of a private horse rider to Lancaster.
If the post from Philly can meet them halfway at Lancaster then a deal on cost can be made.
David Hall was Ben Franklin's partner, and who took over compiling and publishing Poor Richard's Almanac after 1758.
The Almanac is not mentioned, but the "paper" referenced in these letters between Colonel George Washington and David Hall is the Pennsylvania Gazette.
By 26 October 1757 it looks like George Washington is discontinuing the service due to exorbitant cost:
If you hear nothing from Us before the end of the Quarter you will then drop the Paper and send me your acct which shall be immediately paid by Sir Yr most Hble Servt
Source:
The Fort was still being built then but there was a company always working on it and camped there. So they could receive the mail there. Colonel George Washington moved into it 2 Dec 1756 after paying a full years rent to one of the Ranger captains who was proprietor of Cocks Tavern at 21 S Loudoun Street.
The original Pony Express:
Other than Ben Franklin, there were notable post riders, presaging the Pony Express, such as Jenkins.
You will often see a letter in this period by the Virginia leaders, saying "I got yours last by Jenkins."
Times in England
Ben leaves NYC 6 June 1757, arriving in England 26 July 1757. He returns to America in 1762.
Again in England from 1764 to 1774.
And as Ambassador to France staying in Paris: 1775 to 1785.
Of the 28 years, "between 1757 and 1785 he [Ben Franklin] lived a total of only three years on American soil."
Benjamin Franklin born January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1706] and died April 17, 1790
Poor Richard's Last Name
Ever know the fictitious Poor Richard's last name?
He was Richard Saunders.
Richard Saunders introducing himself in his first 1733 almanac:
The name Poor Richard
was adapted from another British almanac, Poor Robin which was first published in 1664.
It is believed that Richard Saunders’ personality
was modeled after Isaaq Bickerstaff Esq, a pseudonym used by Jonathan Swift as part of a hoax to predict the death of almanac writer John Partridge. One of Franklin’s most famous hoaxes The Death of Titan Leeds (see below) was based on this hoax.
Source:
Online Versions of Poor Richard's Almanac:
Almanac No. 25, published 1795
The way to wealth, signed:
Richard Saunders, was first published in Poor Richard's almanac for 1758,
and separately issued in 1760
under title: Father Abraham's speech. In the present edition it is followed by A.F. Quetant's French translation (with special t.p.: La science du fonhomme Richard ou Moyen facile de payer les impots. Par Benj. Franklin. Paris, Chez A.A. Renouard, 1795) Appended: Dialogue entre la goutte et Franklin: Quelques mots sur l'Amerique; Dr. Franklin's epitaph
Almanac No. 738, published 1925
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Sources:
Ben Franklin's official reason to go to England:
Ben Franklin and Stonehenge
Post coming to Winchester VA
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By Jenkins the precursor of the Pony Express
Deal on postal service between Col George Washington and David Hall:
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Ben Franklin in London
Poor Robin
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Types of Colonies
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Proprietors of PA
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Poor Richard's Almanack wikipedia
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1758 no 26 last edition by BF
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