William Temple Franklin-George Fox Collection, American Philosophical Society

Table of contents

Abstract

After William Temple Franklin returned to Europe in 1792, he left oversight of his financial interests in America in the hands of his intimate friend and fellow land speculator, George Fox. A physician and member of the American Philosophical Society, Fox also took possession of the remainder of Benjamin Franklin's papers, which eventually passed through his son, Charles Pemberton Fox, to the APS.

The Franklin-Fox Collection contains 98 items, consisting mostly of letters from William Temple Franklin to George Fox regarding land holdings and finances, and retained copies of Fox's letters to Franklin. The correspondence is fairly relentlessly focused on business matters and rarely contains personal comments, however there are occasional requests for books and two reference to the yellow fever epidemic of 1798 and the death of Benjamin Franklin Bache.

Background note
Scope & content
Administrative information
Additional information
- Related material
Added entries
Contact information
Collection inventory
- William Temple Franklin-George Fox Collection

Background note

The sons of Joseph Fox and Elizabeth Mickle, George (1759-1828) and Samuel Mickel Fox I (1763-1808) became intimate friends of Benjamin Franklin's grandson William Temple Franklin. George, a physician who was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1784, represented Philadelphia in the Assembly in 1800, and was an organizer and director of the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal and an early supporter of the bank of North America, of which he was Director from 1818 until 1828. Samuel also served in public office as a member of City Council, the Common Council (1793-1797), and the Upper Chamber (1797-1800), and he was both an incorporator of the Bank of Pennsylvania and its President from 1797-1808. After the Indian treaties of 1784 and 1785, Samuel and George invested heavily in lands in northern and western Pennsylvania, often investing with the Morrises and other Philadelphians. At his death, Samuel held 118,000 acres.

When Temple Franklin returned to Europe in 1792, he turned to his old friend George Fox to oversee his interests in America, particularly the land holdings he inherited and purchased from his father and grandfather. Franklin also left the balance of his grandfather's papers at Fox's estate Champlost, where they had been stored since Benjamin's death in 1790, and most of these were donated to the American Philosophical Society in 1840 after having passed to Fox's son Charles Pemberton Fox.

Scope and content

As a fellow investor and overseer of William Temple Franklin's financial interests in the United States, George Fox had a detailed view of the investments of the beloved grandson of Benjamin Franklin. The Franklin-Fox Collection contains 98 items, consisting mostly of letters from William Temple Franklin to George Fox regarding land holdings and finances, and retained copies of Fox's letters to Franklin. The correspondence is fairly relentlessly focused on business matters and rarely contains personal comments, however there are occasional requests for books and two reference to the yellow fever epidemic of 1798 and the death of Benjamin Franklin Bache.

Administrative information

Restrictions

None.

Provenance

Gift of Charles Pemberton Fox, 1840.

Preferred citation

Cite as: William Temple Franklin-George Fox Collection, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recatalogued and encoded by rsc, April 2003.

Alternate formats

The collection has been microfilmed (Film 54-57).

Additional information

Related material

Several other collections at the APS relate to William Temple Franklin, including: