Deborah Read

Deborah Read was an American colonist who married Benjamin Franklin in 1730. She had previously married a man who deserted her, leaving her to support herself and their son. Franklin and Read met when Franklin first arrived in Philadelphia, and she reportedly found his appearance awkward. Despite Franklin's initial departure for England and his later affairs, their relationship revived, and they married, establishing a common-law marriage that lasted until her death in 1774. They had two children, a son named Franky who died in childhood, and a daughter named Sarah.12