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John sat in his own corner in the family house on a Friday evening, reviewing some letters and such that were left on his desk. He made it a habit to read any and all correspondence that was placed on his desk. Just moments ago he had finished reading the figures for his various companies. The mill was doing quite well as well as a few small investments here and there but in comparison to his other ventures the J.C Pencil Company was doing extremely well.
Thinking about the business he smiled slightly thinking about his good fortune. The rounded design made it much easier to hold and the special blend of graphite felt smoother when writing than most other non-ink tools. This caused the company to make record profits despite British trade restrictions. It brought in one hundred and thirteen pounds sterling so far in the year.
With his business figures finished he moved the pile of letters in front of him. Looking over them he saw one that caught his eye. It was a letter from the Pennsylvania Gazette a newspaper from in the city, one of the most read in the 13 colonies. Opening the ring he proceeds to read its contents.
"Dear Young Mr. Carpenter, I have heard much about you and your developments from acquaintances and fellows that I keep in good company. They have all spoken of you in a good light and described you as a smart young man. I also was in attendance the night you spoke to the congregation about keeping resilient in the face of overreach by the crown, and was quite impressed by your eloquence. I would ask that on your next trip into town, you come by my shop or home for I wish to interview you for my paper, and a man of your standing and accomplishment, I would not trust this task to any but myself.
Respectfully yours, Benjamin Franklin"
Having read this I set the letter down and processed what I had just read. The Benjamin Franklin wanted to interview me for his paper personally, this was a massive honor and one that I could not pass up.
Grabbing the letter I rush down the halls toward my grandfather's study and see him sitting at his desk. Looking up at me as I enter he smiles.
"John, my boy. You seem to be in a rush, what is the matter." he says, "Did you do something your mother told you not to." he continues with a smirk on his face. "Her scoldings can make even me want to retreat."
"No Grandpa," John replied. "I got this letter from Pennsylvania and I wanted you to read it and tell me what you think of it."
"Well then, hand it here, and let's have a look at it," he said putting his hand out to grab the letter.
Handing it over John looks as his grandfather reads it, at first he simply looks intrigued but then he stops and a foul look comes over his face. Holding the letter firmly in his hand he stands up and marches to the fireplace and tosses the paper inside.
Startled at his grandfather's actions he stands up in shock, "Why did you do that," John exclaims.
"Never mind that" William retorts firmly, "you will forget that letter and this shall be the last we speak of it."
"But why?" John asks shocked, he has never seen his grandfather act this way before, let alone to him.
"Because I said so, that is the last word we will speak of this." he says before going back to his desk, "Now leave me, I have work to do."
Still, somewhat in shock John leaves and heads back to his room. His grandfather has never spoken like this to him ever before. Lying down on his bed he stares into the ceiling and tries to think to himself.
'What could have caused Grandpa to act in such a way, and with such resolve, there was nothing in the letter that could have possibly offended my grandfather.' Thinking over the words in his head John tries to imagine how the wording in that letter could have offended William.
'Usually, Grandpa just laughs off any kind of subtle insult so it couldn't possibly be that.' He continues to lie in bed for a considerable amount of time until he comes to a realization, 'Mr Franklin must have hurt Grandpa in the past somehow, maybe it was social, political, or financial but this kind of fervor is not born of simple jests and rude comments.'
A short while after this a servant knocks on his door and informs him that dinner is ready and the rest of his family is meeting in the smaller dining room. Making his way down to the room the dinner is a quiet affair. His mother never liked speaking during the main course of dinner so her abstinence from conversations was a normal occurrence but the void left by the absolute silence between William and John was noticeable to even the most socially naive of people.
Nearing the end of the meal John finally looked up at his grandfather and spoke, "Grandpa," he said startling William but catching his attention, "What did Benjamin Franklin do that made him so hated by you."
With this, the room became even quieter with the exception of light coughing coming from Martha as she seemed to be startled by this and inhaled a small amount of food.
"I said we will not talk about this," William says in a tone so cold that it could freeze the tropics.
"You said that, but you won't tell me what happened, this is an incredible opportunity for me and you dismissed me for reasons that I don't know.'
Before his grandfather was able to speak again Martha finally cleared her throat and spoke out. "What happened, why are you bringing up Mr. Franklin" she asked with audible hesitation.
John spoke fast to get his word in first, "he wrote me a letter asking me for an interview, and then Grandpa threw it into the fire and forbade it. I want to know why."
"You don't need to know," William said still with that same cold tone.
"It's my future and career, you trust me with so much else, why is this where you draw the line."
"It is because you don't need to know!!!" William shouted with some force.
Standing up forcefully Martha shouts, "Yes He Does!! It's high time that we tell him. You've had me put it off for years but it is time."
A visage of shock plays across Williams's face as he hears this and tries to speak but only unintelligible sounds come out of his mouth.
"John, follow me," she says while walking out of the dining room to leave William to himself.
Walking down the halls they reach Martha's room, john rarely went in here the past few years with only a few exceptions. Entering the room she walks over to a corner of the room lifts a floorboard and pulls out a small wooden box from the hole in the floor.
Sitting on the bed she motions for John to join her which he does. Opening the box John sees a pile of old letters all of them looking to be over a decade old.
'You see John, when I was young I loved the social life of Philadelphia, in this city, I was the closest thing there was to a princess. Father was wealthy beyond many in the colony's wildest dreams, we had connections in England and there was a great deal of prestige attached to our family name."
She gives a small sigh, "I was naive and always wanted to be sounded by the best and brightest of the colonies and one day I met him. He walked in with a swagger in his step. He was the most famous American in Europe and a rebound scientist and businessman and even though he was married we began an affair, admittedly something that was not a new prospect for the man."
This shocked John as he simply sat there with an expression of pure disbelief on his face, he had many twenty-first-century values when it came to women's rights and relationships but sleeping with a married man was not one of them. He would never love his mom less but this did diminish his mother's dignity a small bit.
"After a while, we began to feel some affection, or at least I hope we did. After a few months of this father found out and nearly challenged the man to a duel if he would not leave, and under that threat, he did leave. He boarded a ship and sailed to England. After that my reputation with your grandfather was rough. He kept me confined to the estate only letting me send letters to other women from families we trusted."
Like how his mother's past slightly reduced his opinion of her the way he confined his free-spirited mother made John lose some admiration for his grandfather.
"A few months after he left though we discovered I was pregnant," she said looking at John with a small smile.
"While this man may not have known that you are his son, I know that you are his and I believe it is time for you to know. The man I loved and who is your father is Benjamin Franklin."
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Wow, that is part one done. Part two will be when the flames of industry will start burning and the beginnings of the arsenal of democracy will be forged. I am sorry for the many delays, the college has been hard and burnout has been difficult. In the coming weeks, I will stop posting chapters when they are done, but instead, they will be written ahead of time and posted regularly.
But I have a question for you, my audience, should I introduce the occasional variant POV and/or retrospectives from the future, not to spoil the story but to give the impact of his actions? Vote in the poll below
https://strawpoll.com/kogjkK07vZ6