The grandson of Benjamin Franklin, William Temple Franklin was born in London and was the illegitimate son of William Franklin. He spent much of his youth with his grandfather and traveled with Benjamin to North America in 1775. The Revolutionary War (1775-83) divided the Franklin family: William Franklin joined the Loyalists, while Benjamin Franklin and William Temple Franklin supported the Whigs. When the Second Continental Congress sent Benjamin to France to represent U.S. interests there, he took William Temple with him as his secretary. During their time in Paris, Benjamin tried to help his grandson by giving him important responsibilities and experience in diplomacy, although William Temple gained a reputation as a reckless youth who enjoyed the pleasures of Paris nightlife. Due to his grandfather's influence, William Temple Franklin delivered the Treaty of Amity to the French and later served as secretary of the U.S. Peace Commission, which resulted in the Treaty of Paris (1783). But William Temple Franklin's otherwise undistinguished diplomatic career and reputation for carousing angered Benjamin Franklin's critics. As a result, Benjamin was unable to secure a ministerial appointment for his grandson, and the two men returned to the United States in 1785.

William Temple inherited his grandfather's papers after Benjamin's death in 1790. He intended to publish the elder Franklin's autobiography upon returning to England in 1792 but found a French language edition already available. After years of procrastination and involvement in a variety of failed business ventures, William Temple Franklin finally published his edited although incomplete version of Benjamin Franklin's papers, including the autobiography, in 1817. He died in Paris on May 25, 1823.

Bibliography:

Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 2nd ed., edited by Leonard W. Labaree, et al., (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2003)

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