The Loyal Son: The War in Ben Franklin’s House

In The Loyal Son, award-winning historian Daniel Mark Epstein tells the story of a seldom discussed aspect of Franklin’s life: his complex and confounding relationship with his illegitimate son William. Franklin adopted the boy, raised him, educated him to be his aide, and the pair became inseparable. The outbreak of the American Revolution caused a split between father and son when William, who was Royal Governor of New Jersey, was imprisoned for treason, and his father, one of the foremost champions of independence, appeared to abandon him to his fate. A book signing follows the program.