James S. and Frances M. Bradford Collection, American Philosophical Society

Table of contents

Abstract

The James S. and Frances M. Bradford Collection contains a wealth of letters to and from Polly Stevenson Hewson, intimate friend of Benjamin Franklin. At the heart of the collection are approximately 40 letters from Mary Stevenson to Franklin with a smaller number in return. Friendly, increasingly intimate, these provide a glimpse of the domestic life of Franklin and his warm personal relations with the Stevensons and Hewsons. Among the noteworthy individual items is the manuscript "Craven Street Gazette" (Sept. 22-26, 1770), the mock newspaper Franklin produced while in London.

The collection also contains a series of unrelated miscellaneous manuscripts that includes correspondence from William Bradford, Patrick Henry, and George Washington.

Background note
Scope & content
- Arrangement
Administrative information
Additional information
- Separated material
- Related material
Added entries
Contact information
Collection inventory
- Franklin - Stevenson - Hewson Papers, 1749-1794
- Transcripts of Hewson-Franklin Correspondence, 1758-1898
- Miscellaneous Manuscripts, 1777-1896

Background note

During the 17 years he served as colonial agent for Pennsylvania in London, Benjamin Franklin developed a strong attachment to the family of his landlady at 36 Craven Street, Margaret Stevenson. Margaret's daughter, Mary (usually called Polly) became a particular intimate, so much so that Franklin connived to marry her off to his son, William. Although nothing came of these efforts, Franklin's intentions did little to impair the friendship with the Stevensons, and Franklin's domestic circle at Craven Street eventually grew to include his grandson William Temple Franklin and Sarah Franklin, daughter of an English cousin.

In 1770, Polly married the distinguished surgeon and anatomist William Hewson in what was to be a tragically short pairing. Hewson died in 1774 after contracting septicaemia from a cut he received while dissecting a cadaver in his basement, leaving Polly to care for their daughter and two sons to raise, one of whom was Franklin's godson. Recognizing the difficulty of her situation, Franklin stepped in to assist his old friend, further strengthening their bond. After Franklin left England on the even of the Revolution, he and Polly continued in regular correspondence, and after the Revolution ended, Polly arranged to renew their friendship face to face, visiting Franklin at Passy in 1785. In the following year, she followed him when he returned to Philadelphia, and was at Franklin's beside when he died in 1790. In his will, Franklin recognized Polly with a silver tankard he had "marked for her use during her life," acknowledging her daughter Eliza as well, and leaving books to her sons William and Thomas.

Scope and content

The James S. and Frances M. Bradford Collection contains a wealth of letters to and from Polly Stevenson Hewson, intimate friend of Benjamin Franklin. At the heart of the collection are approximately 40 letters from Mary Stevenson to Franklin with a smaller number in return. Friendly, increasingly intimate, these provide a glimpse of the domestic life of Franklin and his warm personal relations with the Stevensons and Hewsons. Among the noteworthy individual items are the manuscript "Craven Street Gazette" (Sept. 22-26, 1770), the mock newspaper Franklin produced while in London, Franklin's "Scheme for a new alphabet" (1768), and his parable on brotherly love (1774).

The Bradford Collection also includes a number of interesting letters between Hewson and Dr. John Hawkesworth, as well as a few miscellaneous letters from important Americans owned by the Bradford family, including two from George Washington and two from Patrick Henry. A self-educated miscellaneous writer, Hawkesworth was associated with Samuel Johnson (until a falling out in about 1756) and was a contributor to the Gentleman's Magazine, the Adventurer (which he edited with Johnson), and other publications, and edited a volume describing Captain Cook's voyage to the South Seas. He and his wife were close friends of Hewson and of Franklin.

The collection also contains a series of typescripts of letters written between Hewson and Franklin, several of which appear in the original in the collection.

Frances Margaret Bradford presented a third series of papers in 1960. In addition to further correspondence and estate material concerning Margaret Stevenson and Mary Hewson, this series also contains some miscellaneous, and unrelated, correspondence from William Bradford, Patrick Henry, and George Washington.

Arrangement

Series I. is physically arranged in order of correspondent, but is presented here in chronological order.

Administrative information

Restrictions

None.

Provenance

Gift of James S. and Frances M. Bradford, 1956 and 1960.

Preferred citation

Cite as: James S. and Frances M. Bradford Collection, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recatalogued rsc, 2003.

Additional information

Separated material

The Bradford Family Collection included several items that have been transferred to the Curatorial Department or Department of Printed Materials. These include:

Miniature chess set and board used by Mary Stevenson Hewson
Memorial ring "John Hawkesworth,LLD ob 17 Nov. 1773 art 58" formerly owned by Hewson
Pluche, Noel Antoine, Spectacle de la nature..., 8th ed. (London, 1753-1757). Presentation copy from Franklin to Hewson. Call no.: 500 P72s.8 v.1-7.

Related material

Polly Hewson appears as a correspondent in several other collections at the APS, including:

Benjamin Franklin Papers (B F85)
Benjamin Franklin Miscellaneous Collections (B F85x)
Bache Family Papers (B B121)
Sarah Franklin Bache (B B1245)
Hewson Family Papers (B H492)