Sarah Franklin Bache
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Sarah Franklin Bache (1743-1808) was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Deborah Read. Her husband was Richard Bache. She was known as "Sally" throughout her life. She was born on September 11, 1743, and married Richard Bache on October 29, 1767, even though her family was worried about his financial position.
Bache was an ardent patriot during the Revolutionary War through relief work and as her father's political hostess. She raised money for the Continental Army and is known for her involvement in the Ladies Association of Philadelphia. She took leadership of the group in 1780 and supervised the making of 2,200 shirts for the soldiers in the Continental Army, often meeting at The Cliffs, a country estate owned by Samuel R Fisher on the Schuylkill River two miles north of Philadelphia.
Bache had seven children, Benjamin, William, Betsy, Louis, Deborah, Richard, and Sarah.
Bache loved music and reading and was considered a skilled harpischordist. When her father died, he left most of his estate to her. One possession she was handed down was a small portrait of Louis XVI surrounded by diamonds, which she sold to finance a trip to London. In 1794, she and her family moved to a farm outside of Philadelphia on the Delaware River. Sarah Franklin Bache died in 1808.
[edit] References
- "The Sarah Franklin Bache Papers, 1768-1807", American Philosophical Society http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/mole/b/bachesf.htm
- "Bache and Wistar Family Correspondence 1777-1895", Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin",by Benjamin Franklin
- Article in The Evening Bulletin, November 22, 1971, on the plans to convert the Cliffs to an historic farm.
- Article in The Evening Bulletin, January 27, 1975, on the plans to restore 16 historic houses including the Cliffs.
- Article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 23, 1986 on the burning of the Cliffs.
