Benjamin Franklin , often called " the first American , " is a beloved figure in American history for the important function he played in mold the country . His many achievements have made him a bona fide caption . He ’s well - experience as aninventor , scientistandpolitician .
But could he have also been a murderer ? Was one of America ’s most venerated Founding Fathers , the mandepicted on the U.S. $ 100 bill , a outlaw of the high-risk variety ?
Or is there a better explanation for why more than 1,000 human ivory pieces were discovered in the cellar of his former home ?
Renaissance Man
suffer in Boston in 1706 , Benjamin Franklin was the15th childof Josiah Franklin , a twice - married candlemaker . During his lifespan , he invented a flexible urinary catheter , bifocalsand a panache of wooden " swim fins . "
He also build the first ( formally organized)all - unpaid worker fervor departmentin the American Colonies , facilitate talk terms the1783 Treaty of Paristhat end the Revolutionary War andworked onthe Declaration of Independence .
In addition , Franklin was a humourist , adeist , an earlyabolitionist , ambassador to France and the United States President of Pennsylvania ’s Supreme Executive Council ( arole standardised to governor ) .
understandably his legacy is well - realize , but did Franklin have a dingy side , too ?
He was a well - known philanderer , complain about his libido in photographic print . He is known to have take " melodic line bath , " where he ’d open up his windows and remain firm around naked , disregardless of his neighbors ' snoopiness eyes .
And the human race liked his liquor ; he wrote and print " The Drinker ’s Dictionary " in 1737 . It ’s composed of hundreds of slang terms for signal that " a valet is drunk . "
State Secrets
But it ’s his association with the Freemasons that often raises eyebrows . He helped one Pennsylvania chapterdraft its bylawsand eventually became a Grandmaster .
Masons , in bout , have been the focus of somewild conspiracy theories . One of which take that their organization has ties to theIlluminati , a group of ultra - knock-down masses who supposedly move the world in secret .
have the record show that Franklin himself was n’t greatat keeping secrets .
During the Revolution , he served as the straits of an American diplomatic commission in Paris . On his vigil , secret document were give out in unembellished view , and the mathematical group had a bad wont of talking classify in world . Even worse , their secretarial assistant turned out to be a mole for the British .
Since Franklin dropped the lump on counterintelligence and fail to guard classified information , it ’s hard to believe he was part of a shadowy , crack - secret cabal like the Illuminati or the Lizard People — as some conspiracy theorists maintain .
Bring Up the Bodies
What is indisputable about Ben Franklin is hehad bones in his cellar . Human finger cymbals . Lots of human finger cymbals .
They were discovered in 1998 when an organization calledFriends of Benjamin Franklin Housedecided to reinstate the four - tale Georgian house in London where Franklin lived while he was an ambassador for the American Colonies .
It isthe only location still standingwhere Franklin actually shack ; he promise the position home from1757 to 1775 .
During the later ' 90s restitution project , expression worker Jim Fieldfound somethingin a window - free basement room : a human thigh bone .
The police force were called to the scene , where more than 1,200 more bones ultimately emerge .
They ’d beenburied in a pitmeasuring 3.28 feet extensive by 3.28 feet deep ( 1 measure blanket by 1 meter recondite ) . Back in Franklin ’s day , this bonebed would ’ve been place underneath his garden .
Forensic analysis proved the bones were anything but fresh . A life scientist at the University of Londondated the remainsto the mid-18th one C , pretend them more than 200 years old .
In other word , they were buried around the same time Franklin live in the firm .
So where did the bones add up from ?
Advancing Science
As the Benjamin Franklin House websitereports , " The homo remains derive from over 15 individual and show dissection fall guy from surgical instruments . " For model , someone had obviously taken a trepan equipment and drill holes into skull bone .
That " someone " was probablyWilliam Hewson .
A British physiologist and anatomist , Hewson marry the daughter of Franklin ’s London landlady in1770 . The two man were not only neighbor , but friend as well .
Like the American founder , Hewson made a name for himself in scientific traffic circle . His most famous experimentation involveda stagnant ocean turtle , which he injected with Hg to learn more about how the lymphatic organisation works . ( Human being share this system with other creatures . )
Hewson ’s background establish investigator the smoking gun they ’d been after .
Not all the remains lay to rest at the Benjamin Franklin House were human . ocean turtle bones were also removed from the orchestra pit . And what do you know ? One of those polo-neck function — a shell fragment — containeda little beading of mercury .
Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
Forensic and historical evidence all but sustain that Hewson was the man creditworthy for this os bit . But the question remains : Why would he leave body parts — human and otherwise — buried around Franklin ’s house ?
Consider the land of medical science at the time .
In 1772 , Hewson foundedan anatomy schoolat the construction possess by his mother - in - law , which also happened to be Franklin ’s home . The school stayed clear until 1778 .
Future physicians take to perfect their craft by dissecting corpses . However , there were hard-and-fast laws about remains usage . The only bushed bodies educator couldlegally usewere those of criminals who ’d been hanged at the gallows .
requirement far outpaced supplying . Getting a corpse by legal means could be a difficult process . So many teachers and scholarly person hedge the law byenlisting grave robbersto provide body they could dissect .
A Friend in Need
Over the wall of Franklin ’s garden , there was a gallows wherepublic hangingswere regularly acquit .
But it ’s not undue to think Hewson landed specimen for his shape school through illegal grave robbing . And of course , if he used stolen clay , Hewson would ’ve had to ditch the evidence in arcanum . Hence the need for aprivate burying site .
William Hewson died in 1774 ; while dissect a corpse , he accidentally cut himself and died fromthe septic wound . It ’s unreadable if Benjamin Franklin ever knew what the younger man was up to in that English garden . With everything that was extend across the Atlantic , he certainly had a sight on his mind .
