7 The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time 7Achievement of Security and Fame
Denham died, however, a few months after Franklin
entered his store. The young man, now 20, returned to the
printing trade and in 1728 was able to set up a partnership
with a friend. Two years later he borrowed money to
become sole proprietor.
His private life at this time was extremely complicated.
Deborah Read had married, but her husband had deserted
her and disappeared. One
matchmaking venture
failed because Franklin
wanted a dowry of £100
to pay off his business
debt. A strong sexual
drive, “that hard-to-be-
govern’d Passion of
Youth,” was sending
him to “low Women,”
and he thought he very
much needed to get
married. His affection
for Deborah having
“revived,” he “took her
to Wife” on Sept. 1, 1730.
At this point Deborah
may have been the only
woman in Philadelphia
who would have him,
for he brought to the
marriage an illegitimate
son, William, just borne
of a woman who has
never been identifi ed.
Franklin’s common-law
Title page for Poor Richard’s
almanac for 1739, written, printed,
and sold by Benjamin Franklin. Rare
Book and Special Collections
Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.