Sarah's family was concerned about this match, particularly her half-brother William. At the time, Bache was a merchant in Philadelphia and New York. Sarah married Richard Bache on October 29, 1767. She must have already read it in English." Marriage and family Benjamin Franklin once gave Sarah a copy of Samuel Richardson's Pamela or, Virtue Rewarded in a French translation to "help her with her French.
When Franklin traveled to Europe in Sarah's early adolescence, he left Deborah Read to take care of the "Education of my dear child." It is also possible that Sarah learned French. Franklin also had Sarah enrolled in dance school. She was taught reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as spinning, knitting, and embroidery. The education Sarah received was thus typical for women of her status during the 18th century. Daughters were typically given the education they would need to be good housewives as that would be their most important job. It was not unusual for men during this time to take a more aloof approach towards their daughters' education than towards their sons' education. įranklin would begin to consider men and women as more intellectually equal later in his life, but he did not take this approach to his own children and grandchildren. But Franklin was also deep into his experimentation with electricity by the time Sarah was a young child, and by her early teenage years, he had left for Europe. Franklin's reserved nature towards his daughter may have been partially due to the previous loss of Francis. Growing up, Sarah did not have a very close relationship with her father. When Sarah was born in 1743, Benjamin Franklin was thirty-seven and intently focused on furthering his career and wealth. Also in their household was her older half-brother William Franklin, her father's illegitimate son whom her parents raised from infancy. Their son Francis Franklin died of smallpox at age four. 4 Later life and relationship with Benjamin Franklinīorn Sarah Franklin and known as "Sally" throughout her life, she was the only surviving child of her parents, Deborah Read and Benjamin Franklin.