A review by jpalfreyman
The Loyal Son: The War in Ben Franklin's House by Daniel Mark Epstein

3.0

I wasn't very familiar with the Franklins before picking up this book and it certainly is an interesting story. William was the illegitimate child of Ben Franklin. His mother's name has been lost to family secrecy and time. Benjamin took custody of the him when he was baby. He took a common law wife (she wasn't certain if she was if she was a widow due to abandonment and she never formally married Benjamin) and raised him as part of the family. Fun fact: a first born, legitimate child, through this line was not born to the Franklins until the first great granddaughter had a baby while actually married. This family was close. In Benjamin's long absences, that included Benjamin's wife's death, William watched out for the family and took care of Benjamin's affairs. Benjamin returned from Europe just in time to see William installed as the Royal Governor of New York. Once Benjamin returned from London knowing that war was coming he immediately took custody of William's son Temple and ceased all correspondence with his son. During the war William was a POW and Benjamin was in Paris trying to get an alliance with the French. Interesting speculation of whether or not Benjamin tried to help his son, but there is absolutely no formal record to say he did. This family was torn apart by the war and never fully recovered. The post war was more interesting as William tried to reach out to his father. This is ultimately a family story divided by war. Much like families of the Civil War.