In the summer of 1762 Franklin wound up his business in England as agent for the Pennsylvania Assembly and returned to Philadelphia. William Franklin was married in London and soon followed his father to take office as royal governor of New Jersey. Before sailing, Franklin wrote a long letter to Giambatista Beccaria in Turin describing his invention of a new musical instrument, the glass harmonica, which for a generation or so enjoyed great popularity in Europe. Both Mozart and Beethoven wrote compositions for it. In America once more, Franklin devoted much of his to his duties as join deputy postmaster general, going on long inspection trips to all the offices from Virginia to New Hampshire. His correspondence with friends made in England shows some nostalgia for his life there, but letters from them at least brought the political news and gossip of London, where he had spent five busy and interesting years.
Mr. Labaree is Farnam Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University.
Benjamin Franklin was an important conservative figure in the American Restoration Movement, especially as the leading antebellum conservative in the northern United States branch of the movement. He is notable as the early and lifelong mentor of Daniel Sommer, whose support of the 1889 Sand Creek Declaration set in motion events which led to the formal division of the Churches of Christ from the Disciples of Christ in 1906.
According to contemporary biographies "His early religious training was according to the Methodist faith, though he never belonged to any church until he united with the Disciples."
In 1856, Franklin began to publish the ultra-conservative American Christian Review, which he published until his death in 1878. Its influence, initially considerable, was said to have waned following the American Civil War. Franklin undertook a rigorous program of publication correspondence, and traveling lectures which took him to "many" U. S. states and Canada.
Franklin's last move was to Anderson, Indiana, where he lived from 1864 until his death.
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