“B. Free Franklin,” An American Emblem of Defiance and Patriotism: Benjamin Franklin Works to Negotiate the Treaty of Ft. Stanwix After Pontiac’s Rebellion

We are not aware of any other “B Free Franklin” signature in private hands still attached to the autograph letter it accompanied

 

This letter belonged to the Townsend family, an early American merchant family.

The British victory in the French and Indian War resulted in the ejection of the French from lands presently part of the United States, and after the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the organization of the expanded British colonial empire and introduction of British military and American colonial settlers into Native American lands. Moreover, the French had carried on a lucrative fur trade with the Native Americans, and with them gone American colonial traders tried to replace them. The attitudes of the British and colonials towards the Native Americans were not friendly as the French had been, and this soon led to conflict and violence. In 1763, Pontiac’s Rebellion broke out. This was an attempt by a confederation of Native American tribes in the Ohio, Illinois and Great Lakes areas to take British forts and force withdrawal of British soldiers, as well as to break up settlements and drive colonial settlers out of the region. The traders, most of whom were major firms seeking expansion, ended up suffering severe financial losses in the rebellion. These merchants formed a group known as the “Suffering Traders,” later known as the Indiana Company.

“B Free Franklin”

Prominent in the group was trader William Trent, who had been a captain of Pennsylvania troops in the expedition against the French in Canada in 1747. He attended several Indian councils during the French and Indian War and accompanied the expedition to retake Fort Pitt from the French in 1758. In 1760 he joined forces with the firm of Simon, Trent, Levy, & Franks as their agent (the firm was closely associated with the Gratzes), and he was given power of attorney for the group of claimants.  Trent was responsible for taking the claims of the traders for substantial restitution to the British and the Indian tribes. Their work would lead to an episode that would involve Benjamin Franklin in London, the King of Great Britain, and end in the cession of millions of acres.

In 1768, the King’s government, hoping that a negotiated boundary with the Native Tribes would diminish conflict and cement Britain’s hold on the new lands, ordered negotiations between the British Crown and the Six Nations that resulted in the famous Treaty of Fort Stanwix, The treaty was signed in November of 1768, and it proved to be not only the venue for defining the boundary of several states, but also for William Trent and his group to bring its case against the tribes. However, in order to do so, the traders needed Benjamin Franklin’s help.

Franklin was then colonial agent for Pennsylvania in London, was very well connected, and had access to the records of the various traders and their operations as submitted to London. On October 1, 1767, Trent wrote Franklin a letter [presently at Yale University] identifying himself as the representative for the traders group, mentioning that Franklin had already received “All the Accounts belonging to the Indian Traders who had lost by the Depredations of the French and Indians,” and then as “Attorney in fact, for those Indian Traders,” he asked Franklin, “as a particular favor…to transmit to me by the first Packet, all those several Indian Traders Accounts and Vouchers” as held in London.

Franklin obliged, sending him this Autograph Letter Signed, London, February 13, 1768, to Trent, sending the documents he had requested. “I send by Capt. Duncan the copies of the Accounts you wrote for, which I hope will get safe to hand. I am Sir, Your most humble Servant, B. Franklin.”

Trent took this letter and information to Ft. Stanwix, where he joined General William Johnson in negotiating the Treaty.  There, the British required the Native Americans to give a land grant to the “suffering traders.”  The land, known as the “Indiana Grant,” was along the Ohio River and comprised nearly 1/4 of what we know of today as West Virginia, land that would eventually be expanded to encompass parts of modern day Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia.

The story of this letter does not end here, as on the verso of the letter is the address panel, which contains the great rarity of a “B Free Franklin” free frank. Only a handful of these have reached the market in decades, and our research has turned up no other known “B Free Franklin” free frank with intact autograph letter in private hands. The closest would be a letter signed by Franklin but not in his hand, where the address panel was fragmentary and was detached from the letter.

Along with John Hancock’s, this signature is the quintessential (and much more uncommon) signature of an American Founder.  The frank is addressed “To William Trent, Philadelphia, via New York packet. BFreeFranklin.” At top right is the red London “Free” stamped designation, and at top left is the “0/10” postage paid entry. Above the address panel are packet stamps dated 17 February and 12 March, the reason being that the February 17 sailing of the New York packet was cancelled after the letter was given that packet stamp, and the letter was instead sent by the March packet and given its 12 March packet stamp also.  Why did Franklin write this way? No one knows for certain.  It could have been a humorous way to tweak the British government, a way to express solidarity for the Colonies while in London, or another reason.

This letter belonged to the Townsend family, an early American merchant family. It had not been offered for sale in at least a half century, if at all. It was first sold by Raab in 2010 and has had no other owners.