FRANKLIN, William, American colonial governor: b. Philadelphia, 1729 or 1730; d. Eng land, 17 Nov. 1813. He was a natural son of Benjamin Franklin (q.v.), in whose household he was brought up. He served with the Penn sylvania forces on the Canada frontier, ob tained a captain's commission before 1750, in 1754-56 was comptroller of the general post office during part of his father's administration as Postmaster-General, and during a portion of that time clerk of the provincial assembly. In 1757 he went to England with his father, studied law in London and was admitted to the English bar in 1758. In 1762 he was ap pointed governor of New Jersey. During the Revolution he was a Loyalist, and kept under guard by the patriots from January 1776. In June 1776 he called a meeting of the Colonial Assembly, then abrogated, for which he was kept prisoner in Connecticut till 1778, when he was exchanged, and later went to England. It was for this son of his that Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography. As a re sult of his stand against the Revolution, an estrangement arose between father and son, which, however, disappeared before the latter's death. Consult Bigelow, J., ed., 'The Life of Benjamin Franklin, etc.' (3 vols., Philadel
phia 1879) ; Bruce, W. C., 'Benjamin Franklin, etc.> (New York 1917) ; Fischer, E. J., 'New Jersey as a Royal Province, 1738-76' (in Co lumbia University, 'Studies in History, Eco nomics and Public Law,' Vol. XLI, New York 1911) ; Hart, C. H., 'Who was the Mother of Franklin's So& (in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XXXV, p. 308, Philadelphia 1911) ; Ford, P. L., 'Who Was the Mother of Franklin's So& (Brooklyn 1889) ; Franklin, W., 'Letters from W. Frank lin to W. Strahan' (Philadelphia 1911); Lee, F. B., 'New Jersey as a Colony and a State' (4 vols., New York 1902) ; 'Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey) (Trenton 1879) ; Parton, J., 'Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin) (2 vols., New York 1865) ; Ricord, F. W., ed., 'Archives of the State of New Jersey' (Series I, Vols. IX, X, XVII, XVIII, XXV-XXIX; Series II, Vols. I-V; Trenton 1885-1917) ; Sabine, L., 'Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution' (2 vols., Boston 1864) ; Whitehead, W. A., 'Con tributions to the Early History of Perth Am boy, etc.' (New York 1856).