Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about some tricky legal problems that plagued Benjamin Franklin, uncle of the Founding Father of the same name. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Benjamin Franklin (1650-1727) of Boston – the brother of Josiah Franklin and the uncle and godfather of the renowned Founding Father named after him – became embroiled in a court dispute with Newbury, Massachusetts, residents in the summer of 1683.

According to court records, Benjamin Franklin hired two Newbury men – Benjamin Cocker (son of Robert Cocker/Coker) and John Rolfe – to repair his sloop Benjamin and Katherine.

Here is a photo of the Benjamin Cocker House, 172 State Street, Newburyport.

According to Wikipedia:

The oldest portion of the house, the central chimney and the rooms to its left, were built c. 1700 on a site at the corner of High and Federal Streets. The building was widened in the mid-18th century, adding the rooms to the right. The building was moved to its present location in 1856 and enlarged with a two-story addition on the rear. It underwent a major rehabilitation in 1989.

Cocker and Rolfe, both skilled carpenters and shipwrights who built Franklin’s sloop, found the leaks could not be mended quickly, creating one hull of a problem!

Impatient Franklin shacked up onboard for 14 days waiting for the shipwrights to make their repairs.

Eventually Franklin headed over to John March’s Blue Anchor Tavern and racked up a bill for seven weeks’ worth of drinks, dinners, and lodging at the establishment.

The Blue Anchor Tavern is now known as the Swett-Ilsley House and is located at 4-6 High Street in Newbury, Massachusetts, and owned by Historic New England.

I found a mention of the tavern in this news clip from the Boston Herald.

This article reports:

The nearby Swett-Ilsley House at 4 and 6 High Rd. is believed to have been the first ordinary or inn in Essex County. The first newspaper for the area was printed there. Built in 1670, it was enlarged about 1700 for the tap room of the Blue Anchor Tavern. It still houses refreshment, a tea room being operated there today. Admittance is free.

Below is a photo of the tavern as it looks today.

When the sloop was finally mended Franklin refused to pay up. He insisted that Cocker and Rolfe should pay because the genesis of the leak was their fault. Franklin sued for breach of contract and Cocker countersued for nonpayment.

Here is a court document from the case.

Franklin also tried to stiff John March on his tavern bill. This made waves, and a heated dispute followed. March sued for payment and won.

According to one testimony, both parties – Cocker and Franklin – sought an amicable resolution and asked Captain Stephen Greenleaf Jr. and Nathaniel Clark to serve as mediators. This was arranged to take place at the home of John Hale, but no “gentlemen’s agreement” was forged that day as Franklin was a no-show.

Here is Stephen Greenleaf Jr.’s obituary published in the Boston Gazette.

This article reports:

Newbury, Octob. 11. On Friday last died here and yesterday was decently interred the oldest person in this town, Capt. Stephen Greenleaf, in the 92d year of his age. He was a gentleman of superior intellectual powers, continuing at a surprising degree of strength and vivacity to the last weeks of his life. His natural temper was easy & pleasant, his disposition courteous and hospitable; his piety which was without affection, and his many personal & social virtues rendered him greatly esteemed and beloved. He had frequently exposed himself and was twice dangerously wounded in the service of his King and Country (for which he had commissions) against the Indians. At length with resignation to the will of God and calmness of spirit, in faith in the great redeemer, and hope of eternal life, he yielded up the ghost. He has had ten children, 59 grandchildren, and 92 great-grandchildren.

Soon after Franklin’s no-show, a levy was ordered on Franklin’s sloop for payment past due as well as a warrant for his arrest.

Leaving a trail of debenture, Franklin attempted to sail away before his next court date, but his debtees were no dinghies – they capsized Franklin in Boston Harbor.

The disputes went to court, where Newbury-area residents testified for the plaintiffs.

The names mentioned in the documents associated with either the court or as witness are as follows: John Hale, Jethro Coffin, Hugh March, James March, Richard Brown, Pennel Titcomb, Samuel Waters, Abraham Merrill, Mary Sanders, Robert Sanders, and Abraham Clemens.

The legal matters were settled in favor of Cocker and Rolfe, as well as March. Franklin made good on his debts to the shipwrights as well as to John March for “seven weeks diet and use of his home.”

Benjamin Franklin died on 17 March 1727 and is buried in Boston with the Franklin family. Here is his obituary, published in the New England Weekly Journal.

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Note on the header image: Franklin family monument at the Granary Burial Ground in Boston, Massachusetts.