One of the main arguments of my forthcoming religious biography of Ben Franklin is that key relationships with evangelicals and Calvinists, like the revivalist George Whitefield, tethered the skeptical Franklin to the Puritan faith of his upbringing. One of the most important tethering relationships for Franklin was with his evangelical sister Jane. I first encountered Jane (Franklin) Mecom in Jill Lepore's marvelous Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin.
Lepore details Ben and Jane's lengthy correspondence, pondering the ways in which the circumstances of history allowed the bright boy Ben to pursue fame and scientific knowledge, while Jane married at fifteen and lived a family life that was rich in relationships but also full of strife and struggle. (Many children and grandchildren preceded her in death, and her husband was constantly in debt – any knock on the door might be a collections officer come to take more household items, or to take him to to debtors' prison.)
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