Reuben Benjamin Franklin (1841 - 1919)

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Biography

This biography is a rough draft. It was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import and needs to be edited.

Death

Death: Y

Date: 29 DEC 1919

Cause: broncho pneumonia

UPD

UPD 23 DEC 2010 05:15:24 GMT -0600

Note

Note: Reuben Benjamin Franklin
1 July, 1841 ~ 29 December, 1919

    Reuben was born near the tiny farming community of South Bolivar, Allegany County, New York, probably acros

s the state line in Potter County, Pennsylvania.   His mother’s maiden name was Susan Drock and his father was Charles Franklin.   The Franklin’s may have lived just ac

ross the border in Pennsylvania, because Reuben’s birth place is frequently listed as  Pennsylvania.
      Reuben lived with his half sister, Mary C. Churchill [or

Churkin] [Clemens]  in Caneadea, Allegany County, New York, in 1850 (perhaps after his father had died and his mother remarried ?).    In 18>55 he was back with his mother , Sus

an Drock, and her third husband, Charles Thompson and  his younger brother, Jeremiah Buell Franklin, still in Caneadea.   In 1860 the family was living in Wirt, also in Allegany County.

   Reuben married Henrietta McGee in 1860 or 61 while again living with  his half sister.  They continued to live "..more or less.." with Mary until he joined the Army (7

Oct 1861) for the Civil War.
       Henrietta continued to live with Mary after Reuben joined the Army until some time after their son, Charles Avery Franklin was born.&

nbsp; [The 1865 NY State Census still shows her as part of Charles Thompson's household in June, 1865.  The household also included Reuben‘s mother, Susan (Drock) Thompson, his half sis

ter Mary (Churchill~Churkin) Clemens, and her daughter, Eva O. Clemens, his half sister Esther (Churchill~Churkin) Aust (Ost) and her husband Jacob and their son Wilmot,  his brother Buel and his

wife Maria (Cleaver), his brother Charles, and Reuben & Henrietta’s son, Charles Avery Franklin.   Reuben himself was shown as a member of the household but still in the army].
       Reuben enlisted in Company "H" of the 76th NY Infantry Regiment in October, 1861.  His Company was transported to Cortland, NY, where the Company Comm

ander had a personality conflict with a higher officer.  He requested his Company be transferred to the 93rd NY Volunteers which it was and it was re-designated Company E, 93rd Regiment of New Yo

rk Volunteers.  Reuben suffered a gunshot wound in his left arm at The Battle of the Wilderness on 5 May 1864.  He was discharged from the Army on 19 Dec 1864 at Columbian Hospital, Washingt

on, D.C., "..by reason of Surgeon's Certificate of Disability..".
  After his discharge (?) he worked as "..lieutenant of the guard over the horses.."  at Giesbo

ro (?).  He met Della Louisa Bowen [Hollis] there, and they claimed to have been married by a Justice of  the Peace on 12 February, 1865 in Washington, DC.
   Presumably, some

time before their return to Allegany County at the end of the summer, 1865, Henrietta left Reuben or was told to leave.   She apparently left her son, Charles Avery with Mary Clemens or Susa

n Thompson.
       After leaving Washington, Reuben and Della lived  with Mary Clemens for a while, then made a series of moves to Michigan, back to New York, then t

o Michigan again, then to St. Paul, Howard, Nebraska, where he purchased a small farm lot NNE of town.  He sold that lot on **** and moved his family to Ainsworth, Brown, Nebraska where he took o

ut a homestead on the NE 1/4 of Section 27, Township 30, Range 21.  He received a patent on the homestead on 28 June, 1888.  Reuben took out several mortgages on his land starting in August,

1883, shortly after he moved onto the homestead.  Most of these mortgages were for a short term and were paid off on time, including one for $500, one for $900 and one for $800.  It appears

that he was borrowing money from one lender to pay off the mortgage that was due to another lender.    The last mortgage was to the Union Trust Company for $120 on 11 October, 1886.&nb

sp;  In September of 1889 he was shown as in arrears on the mortgage, and the property was sold>
 at a sherrif's auction by sherrif W. Magill on 30 December, 1890.   Th

e farm was sold to the mortgage holder, Union Trust Company, for $180.37.
   The homestead property is now owned by  *** who purchased it from his in-laws, the Weyer's. &n

bsp; The north end of the property is presently being leased to a gravel company and gravel is being quarried directly under the surface.   The land was probably never very good farmland.
       Around 1892 [obituary] Reuben and his family moved to Oregon City, Oregon, where they lived for a few years before moving to Portland.   Della stated

that Reuben tried to buy land in Oregon City, and was cheated out of $800.   Reuben must have made a conscious decision to abandon the homestead in Brown county, since he apparently had more

than enough money to pay off the mortgage. They stayed in Portland only a short time before moving to Woodland, Washington where they lived for several years.   Apparently Reuben became a c

arpenter after moving from Nebraska.
              Although Della never mentioned living in Tillamook, Oregon, the family was livi

ng there next door to their daughter , Grace [Fay], and her family at the time of the 1910 census.   Adelbert & Aunt Dot were also living with them, but Uncle Ben was not.
  &n

bsp;    About a year before his death Reuben and Della, along with their spinster daughter, Nita E. Franklin (Aunt Dot)  moved back to Portland.[Obituary].
    

   Some time in late 1918 or early 1919 Reuben suffered a severe stroke which left him paralyzed (Apoplectic paralysis).  Around Christmas time, 1919, he developed Broncho Pneumonia and

died around 7 AM on the morning of 29 December, 1919, while under the care of Dr. G.E. Christmas at his home in Portland, Oregon.
       Reuben was buried at the IOOF Ce

metery in Woodland, Washington, on 2 January, 1920.  The Grand Army of the Republic provided a grave marker (?).
     In addition to Charles Avery Franklin, Reuben had at

least seven other Children; Benjamin Emory , Lillian Luella, Lewis Adelbert, Eola Adelle, Grace Francelia, Blanche May, and Nita Elizabeth Franklin.   There is also a record in the Woodland

cemetery for a baby Franklin with information concerning date or parentage.   This was probably not Della & Reuben’s child because of age considerations.
 Alice has spe

culated that the child may have been Aunt Dot's and born "out of wedlock".
***********
   [Depositions of Della Franklin, et al. 1921-22] [Reuben Franklin Discharge p

apers] [Various New York & Federal Censuses] [Reuben B. Franklin Death Certificate] [Oral tradition] [Woodland, Washington cemetery records].

Note: Web content link:<LinkURL>http://www.roddy.net/images/1_Curious_Case_of_Della_Reuben_Web.pdf</LinkURL><LinkName>The Curious Case of Della & Reuben</LinkName>

Record ID Number

Record ID Number: MH:I89

User ID

User ID: DE7D30YF-4116-32C4-4313-4313DV12FC4A

Sources

• https://www.roddy.net/getperson.php?personID=I55&tree=RodBen2015
• WikiTree profile Franklin-1858 created through the import of 46f246_926200cf64vq4z62045fb9(1).ged on Mar 8, 2012 by Elizabeth Sloane. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Elizabeth and others.