Political Background: The restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660 dealt Puritan New England a severe blow. In 1684 the Court of Chancery annulled the Massachusetts Charter. In 1686 the Stuarts established the Dominion of New England, an administrative unit stretching from New Jersey to Maine. But the Glorious Revolution offered New Englanders a chance to revolt. They imprisoned the Stuart representatives (Edmund Andros, Joseph Dudley, and Edward Randolph) and sent them back to England. The crown gave Massachusetts a new charter in 1691, making property rather than religion the basis of suffrage. It also provided for a governor to be appointed by the crown, a Council elected by the General Court but subject to the governor's veto, and royal review of legislation. Beginning in 1696, the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations (called the Board of Trade) oversaw colonial policies. The Board of Trade reviewed colonial legislation, sending its recommendation through the Secretary of State to the Privy Council, which acted for the king. From 1706 to the American Revolution, the Board required that certain kinds of laws be confirmed by the crown before being implemented.

Numerous Massachusetts citizens resented the new charter. They constituted an Old Charter party. Its hero was the Rev. John Wise, who had led his Ipswich townsmen to resist a tax imposed by Edmund Andros in 1687. The party's leaders in the Massachusetts legislature were Elisha Cooke, Sr (1637-1715), and after his death, his son, Elisha Cooke, Jr. (1678-37). During King William's War (1689-97), the frontiers of New England were continually beset with Indian raids, spurred on by the French in Canada. The inconclusive Treaty of Ryswick (30 Sept 1697) did little to end the fighting along the New England frontier. Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) accelerated the Indian raids, and the Treaty of Utrecht (11 April 1713) again failed to resolve the continuing conflicts.

Chronology:

1657: Josiah Franklin (father of BF), born in Ecton, Northamptonshire, England, 23 Dec, the ninth and last child of Thomas Franklin and his wife Jane White. Thomas Franklin was a farmer and blacksmith. After the death of Jane (White) Franklin, Thomas Franklin remarried and had other children. P 1:l-li and chart, lxix.

1667: Abiah Folger (mother of BF), born in Nantucket, MA, 15 August, the ninth and last child of Peter Folger and Mary (Morrils) Folger. Peter Folger was a schoolmaster and a miller. P 1:liii and chart, lxxi.

c. 1677: Josiah Franklin married Anne Child in Ecton. P 1:lvi.

1678: 14 Feb 1677/8. The Rev. Samuel Willard of the Old South Church decided that in some cases the spiritual relation, a traditional prerequisite for church membership (given orally by men; read aloud from a written statement by women), could sometimes be given before the elders only rather than before the entire congregation. Van Dyken 36.

Elizabeth Franklin (half-sister of BF), born in Ecton, Northamptonshire, 2 March. D., 25 Aug 1759; m. (1) 8 Jan 1707, Joseph Berry; m. (2) 19 March 1721, Richard Douse. P 1:lvii (C.1); 8:454.

1681: Samuel Franklin (half-brother of BF), born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, 16 May. D. 30 March 1720; m. 16 May 1705, Elizabeth Tyng. P 1:lvii (C.2); 8:454.

1683: Hannah Franklin (half-sister of BF), born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, 25 May. D. 3 April 1723; m. (1) Joseph Eddy; m. (2) Thomas Cole. P 1:lvii (C.3); 8:454.

Sometime in the second half of 1683, Josiah Franklin, Ann (Child) Franklin, and their first three children emigrated from Banbury, Oxfordshire, to Boston, Massachusetts.

Benjamin Franklin (1650/1-1727, uncle of BF) recalled that his oldest brother Thomas (1637-1702) in one of his last letters wrote, "If I were 10 years younger and had a family I would be for going to New England for, said he, all the world about us is involved in war and 'tis well if the flame doos [sic] not reach us at last." --Uncle Benjamin Franklin to Mary Franklin Fisher (daughter of BF's Uncle Thomas Franklin), 12 Feb 1711/2. Ms., Dartmouth College.

According to Uncle Benjamin, the primary reason for emigrating was not religious but economic: "things not succeeding there [Banbury] according to his [Josiah's] mind, with the leave of his friends and father he went to New England in the year 1683." --Benjamin Franklin (uncle of BF), "A short account of the Family of Thomas Franklin of Ecton," Ms, Yale University Library.

1685. 23 Aug, Josiah Franklin (half-brother of BF) born in Boston. RRC 9:165. D. c. 1715. P 1:lvii (C.4). This was the brother who "Went to sea, never heard of." P 8:454.

27 Sept, Josiah (father of BF) professed his faith and was admitted to membership in the Third or Old South Church. Hill, Historical Catalogue 108. Cf. 4 Feb. 1693/4.

Josiah Franklin took up residence in Milk Street in 1685, renting a house from Nathaniel Reynolds on which Simeon Stoddard held a mortgage. Shurtleff 617. Thomas Minns speculated that Josiah Franklin rented a shop at 339-341 Washington Street (the site of the land in 1906)  at the same time that he rented the Milk Strteet house: "the fact that he [Josiah Franklin] could obtain a house and a shop so near together may have determined the place of his residence."  Minns in Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 10 (1907): 245.  For the shop, see below, 19 July 1707.

1687. 5 Jan, Ann(e) Franklin (half-sister of BF) born in Boston. D. 16 June 1729; m. 10 July 1712, William Harris. P 1:lvii (C.4); 8:454.

1688. 6 Feb, Joseph Franklin (half-brother of BF) born in Boston. Since he died five days later (11 Feb 1688), the next son was also named Joseph. P 1:lvi (C.6); 8:454.

19 Aug, Abiah Folger (mother of BF) professed her faith and was admitted to membership in the Third or Old South Church. Hill, Historical Catalogue 112. Cf. 4 Feb. 1693/4.

1689: 30 June, Joseph (half-brother of BF) born in Boston. RRC 9:184. D. 15 July 1689. P 1:lvi (C.7); 8:454. The previous short-lived brother was also named Joseph (6 Feb 1687/8).

9 July, Anne (Child) Franklin (first wife of Josiah) died in Boston. P 8:120, 454.

25 Nov, Josiah Franklin (BF's father) and Abiah Folger (BF's mother) were married in the Old South Church by the Rev. Samuel Willard. RRC 9:186.

1690. 16 Sept, at 11 pm, a fire broke out at the house of John Allen, burning his apprentice to death, and spread to "the House of Lieut. Reynolds, Mr. Bligh, Langden, and a great part of Savil Simson's. The wind being Sou-west the South-Meeting House was preserv'd with very much difficulty, being in a flame in diverse places of it" (Sewall 1:266). If "the House of Lieut. Reynolds" refers to the Franklin residence, Josiah, Abiah, and their five children, all escaped. Since Lt. Reynolds took out a mortage for fifty pounds in 1691, the house was probably partially burned and rebuilt. The Franklins either rented elsewhere or stayed with friends for several months while the house was being rebuilt.

7 Dec. John (brother of BF) born in Boston. RRC 9:189. D. Boston, 30 Jan 1756; m. (1) Mary Gooch; m. (2) Elizabeth Gooch Hubbart. P 1:lviii (C.8); 6:400; 8:454.

1691. The house where Franklin was born was probably partially rebuilt after the 1690 fire (see 16 Sept 1690). Shurtleff 617.

The house occupied the corner of High (later called Marlborough, and after 1789, Washington) Street and Milk Street, on the southern side of Milk Street. The Old South Church was just across the street, on the north side of Milk Street. (Milk Street ended at High Street.) The last inhabitant of the Reynolds-Franklin house described it some years after it was torn down: "Its front upon the street was rudely clapboarded, and the sides and rear were protected from the inclemencies of a New England climate by large rough shingles. On the street it measured about twenty feet; and on the sides (the westerly of which was bounded by the passageway, and contained the doorway approached, by two steps) the extreme length of the building, including a wooden lean-to used as a kitchen, was about thirty feet. In height the house was about three stories, the upper being an attic, which presented a pointed gable towards the street. In front, the second story and attic projected somewhat into the street over the principal story on the ground floor."

"On the lower floor of the main house there was one room only. This, which probably served the Franklins as a parlor and sitting-room, and also for the family eating-room, was about twenty feet square, and had two windows upon the street; and it had, also, one upon the passageway, so near the corner as to give the inmates a good view of Washington Street. Besides these windows there had been others in the days of its early proprietors which opened upon the easterly side of the house, the seats of which were retained until the destruction of the building. In the centre of the southerly side of the room was one of those noted large fireplaces, situated in a most capacious chimney, which are so well remembered as among the comforts of old houses; on the left of this was a spacious closet, and on the right, the door communicating with a small entry in which were the stairs to the rooms above and the cellar, the latter of which was accessible to the street through one of the old-fashioned cellar doors, situated partly in the sidewalk."

"On the ground floor, connecting with the sitting-room through the entry, was situated the kitchen, in a ten-foot addition to the rear part of the main building [this evidently refers to the eight square foot addition built by Josiah; see 27 April 1691]. The only windows from this part of the house looked back upon a vacant lot of land in the extreme rear of the lot which served as a yard and a garden plot."

"The second story originally contained but one chamber and in this the windows, door, fireplace and closet were similar in number and position to those in the parlor beneath it."

"The attic was also, originally, one unplastered room, and had a window in front on the street, and two common attic windows, one on each side of the roof, near the back part of it." Shurtleff 621-22. The southwesterly end of the lot contained a well, half of which belonged to neighbor Jonathan Balston. Shurtleff 617.

27 April 1691. "Granted Libertie to Josiah Frankline to erect a buildinge of 8 Foote square vpon the Land belonginge to Lt. Nathaniel Reynolds neere the South Meetinge house." RRC 7:115. Perhaps this small structure was used as a kitchen primarily in the summer, when a fire in the main house would have been uncomfortable, or perhaps he used it to store his wares.

1692. 22 Nov. Peter (brother of BF) born in Boston. RRC 9:201. D. Philadelphia, 1 July 1766; m. 2 Sept 1714, Mary Harman. P 1:lix (C.9); 8:454.

1694. 4 Feb, 1693/4. Josiah and his second wife Abiah joined those admitted to communion at the Old South Church. Hill, Historical Catalogue 18. Cf. 27 Sept 1685 and 19 Aug 1688.

26 Sept. Mary Franklin (sister of BF) born in Boston. RRC 9:214. D. 1731; m. Robert Homes (Holmes). P 1:lix (C.10); 8:454.

1697. 4 Feb. James (brother of BF) born in Boston. RRC 9:226. D. Newport, RI, 4 Feb 1734/5; m. 4 Feb 1723/4, Ann Smith. P 1:lix (C.11); 8:454; Tourtellot 428, n.68, corrected the marriage date.

4 May: "At a publick meeting of the inhabitants of Boston ... Josiah Franklin ... chosen Tythingmen for the year ensuing." RRC 7:228; Seybolt, Town Officials 95.

1698. The blue ball that Josiah Franklin had over his shop was dated 1698. It was probably not, however, placed outside the Milk Street House where Franklin was born, but outside Josiah's shop on High Street, which Josiah rented from Sarah Batt, wife of Deacon Micajah Torrey, Jr. The site in 1906 was at 339-41 Washington Street. Thomas Minns in PCSM 10 (1906): 243-46; cf. Shurtleff 624. See 19 July 1707.

12 Dec 1698: The Brattle Street Church founded, with Samuel Sewall recording a pasquinade upon the occasion. Sewall, Letter Book 1:255.

1699. 9 July, Sarah Franklin (sister of BF) born in Boston. D. 23 May 1731; m. 23 May 1722, James Davenport. P 1:lx (C.12); 8:454.

1701. 10 March 1700/1: "At a Publicke Town meeting of the Inhabitants," Josiah Franklin was elected a clerk of the market. RRC 7: 243; 8:6; Seybolt, Town Officials 100.

20 Sept, Ebenezer Franklin (brother of BF) born in Boston. D. 5 Feb 1702/3. P 1: lvi (C.13); 8:454. Cf. 5 Feb 1703.

1703. 5 Feb, "Ebenezer Franklin of the South Church, a male-Infant of 16 months old, was drown'd in a Tub of Suds." Sewall, Diary 482. Cf. 20 Sept 1701.

8 March 1702/3: "At a Publick meeting of the Freeholders ... of the Town of Boston," Josiah Franklin was chosen a constable. RRC 8:26; Seybolt, Town Officials 105.

7 Dec. Thomas, son of Abiah and Josiah Franklin, born in Boston. RRC 24:21. D. 17 Aug 1706. P 1:lvi (C.14); 8:455.

1704 28 Feb. The French and Indians under Hertel de Rouville attacked Deerfield, Ma., killing 54 settlers and taking about 150 prisoners.

24 April. John Campbell established the Boston News Letter, America's first newspaper. Brigham 1:327-31; Charles E. Clark, Public Prints 77-102.

Uncle BF occasionally composed poetry. For extracts from his poems, see J. S. Loring, Historical Magazine 3 (1859):9-12, 50-51, 86-87. The originals are at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA.

1705. 17 March 1704/5. Samuel Franklin (1681-1720), BF's half-brother, became a member of the Old South Church. Hill, Historical Catalogue 121.

16 April, Monday. BNL printed James Gray's obituary, an early notice of the Yankee trader type and dealer in chapbooks: he "used to go up and down the Country Selling of Books." Dying in Boston, he left "a Considerable Estate," including £700 in coin.

16 May. Samuel Franklin (half-brother of BF) married Elizabeth Tyng. P 1:lvii.

NB: Thanks for a correction: Howard S. Lincoln.