Person:Mary Stevenson (22)

Contents 1 Documentation 2 Overview 3 Other Family

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Documentation

Overview

Mary Stevenson married Dr. William Hewson^[1] about 1770. Dr. Hewson, was a member of the Royal Society, as was Benjamin Franklin. One can speculate that it was through these Royal Society connections with Dr. Hewston, that Franklin came to meet Mrs Stephenson, his sometime landlord in London, and subsequently met her daughter Mary. Indeed, it may be that it was through his friendship with Franklin, that Dr. Hewston met Mary, whom he married about 1770.

Franklin is believed to have "given the bride away" at the their wedding^[2], and would later serve as Godfather for one of their children. Their marriage resulted in three children before Dr. Hewson's death in 1770^[3] William, Thomas, and Eliza^[4].

The importance of their friendship is clear in some of Franklin's letters to her after the death of her husband. It is also manifest in his will

I wish to be buried by the side of my wife, if it may be, and that a marble stone, to be made by Chambers, six feet long, four feet wide, plain, with only a small moulding round the upper edge, and this inscription: Benjamin And Deborah Franklin 178- to be placed over us both. My fine crab-tree walking stick, with a gold head curiously wrought in the form of the cap of liberty, I give to my friend, and the friend of mankind, General Washington. If it were a Sceptre, he has merited it, and would become it. It was a present to me from that excellent woman, Madame de Forbach, the dowager Duchess of Deux-Ponts, connected with some verses which should go with it. I give my gold watch to my son-in-law Richard Bache, and also the gold watch chain of the Thirteen United States, which I have not yet worn. My timepiece, that stands in my library, I give to my grandson, William Temple Franklin. I give him also my Chinese gong. To my dear old friend, Mrs. Mary Hewson, I give one of my silver tankards marked for her use during her life, and after her decease I give it to her daughter Eliza. I give to her son, William Hewson, who is my godson, my new quarto Bible, and also the botanic description of the plants in the Emperor's garden at Vienna, in folio, with coloured cuts. And to her son, Thomas Hewson, I give a set of "Spectators, Tattlers, and Guardians" handsomely bound.

Being listed in the same paragraph as a bequest to George Washington "my friend and friend of mankind", emphasizes the importance of their relationship.

Eventually, at Franklin's invitation, Mary relocated to America, living near him in Philadelphia. She does not appear in the tax records examined until 1783, when she is shown as living in North Dock Ward. We can surmize that she did not come to America until about that time, nine years after the death of her husband.^[5] The 1790 census, however, shows her living at 56 North Fourth Street, within a block of Independence Hall, and within a half block of Franklin's home.

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Other Family

There is reasonable evidence that other direct kin to Mary also came to America, though perhaps at an earlier date.

Franklin was instrumental in bringing person:John Hewson (16) to America to start up a "calico printing business in America in 1773 and 1774. Source:Brackman, 2009 tells us that:

About 1772 John [Hewston] visited the Craven Street home of Dr. William Hewson, a possible relative. The doctor's wife, Mary Stevenson Hewson, was a friend of Benjamin Franklin's. Mary's mother had boarded Franklin, the Pennsylvania Colony's unofficial representative to the Crown, during his extended stays in London.

What relation John bore to Mary is unknown, but it seems likely that he was kin to Dr. William Hewson.

References

1. ↑ Mary appears in Philadelphia Tax records under the surname "Huston". Franklin's letter's to Mary consistently use the "Hewson" spelling. Her sons, William and Thomas also used the "Hewson" spelling. Mary's last name is provided in the introduction to Source:Cohen, 2009 which identifies her mother as Mrs. Stevenson. Mrs. Stevenson was Franklin's landlady in 1757 in London.
2. ↑ See: Document:Letter From Benjamin Franklin to Mary Huston, 24 July 1770
3. ↑ Hewson operated a medical school in a home owned by Franklin. He is believed to have died of an infection from a cut received while performing an autopsy.
4. ↑ See Will of Benjamin Franklin
5. ↑ See:Data:Philadelphia Tax Records, 1781, 1782, and 1783, and Data:Houston Tax Records, Philadelphia, 1769, 1774, 1779.