Several scandalous stories about Benjamin Franklin have also been promulgated by pseudo-historians and others over the years. William was treated by Ben as a legitimate son, although some historians now believe that Ben married Deborah when she was pregnant with William, to save her reputation.

There is not good evidence of any other illegitimate children, but rumors have sprung up anyway. One of Ben’s rules in his Project for Moral Perfection, which he observed all his life, was the character trait of chastity. It’s hard to believe any violation of this trait given Ben’s drive for self-improvement.

Some of the rumors are easy to explain, like this one:

“The story of his ‘illegitimate daughter’ is a cause in point. In 1770, Franklin’s close associate, John Foxcroft married Judith Osgood in England. Franklin gave the bride away and referred to her thereafter as his ‘daughter’ because he had acted as surrogate father at the wedding, by no means an unusual practice. Many were the women he would call wife or daughter throughout his life, in a teasing or affectionate manner without suspecting, of course, that anybody would take him literally, then or later.” (Andrew Allison, The Real Benjamin Franklin, Washington, D.C., National Center for Constitutional Studies, 1982, pg. 49, as quoted in Steven W. Allen, Founding Fathers—Uncommon Heroes, 2003, pg 257,.)

It seems that Ben’s penchant for good relations and diplomacy has served to get him into more trouble than he expected!