To end this tale of ABIGAIL ADAMS’s journey by ship from America to London in 1788, here are some of the observations she made upon her arrival. Her husband and son were not there to greet her but friends helped her get settled. She describes her lodgings in the Adelphi Hotel and comments on aspects of life in London. And she finally sends the journal she has been keeping to her sister MARY CRANCH.

Here we have a handsome drawing room Genteely furnished, and a large Lodging room. We are furnished with a cook, chamber maid waiter &c. for 3 Guineys per week—but in this is not included a mouthfull of vituals or drink all of which is to be paid seperately for.
fryday july 24 [23]I have little time for writing now, I have so many visitors. I hardly know how to think myself out of my own Country I see so many Americans about me. . . .
I am not a Little surprized to find dress unless upon publick occasions, so little regarded here. The Gentlemen are very plainly dresst and the Ladies much less so than with us. Tis true you must put a hoop on and have your hair dresst, but a common straw hat, no Cap, with only a ribbon upon the crown, is thought dress sufficient to go into company. Muslins are much in taste, no silks but Lutestrings [light glossy silk] worn but send not to London for any article you want, you may purchase any thing you can Name much lower in Boston. I went yesterday into Cheepside to purchase a few articles, but found every thing higher than in Boston. Silks are in a particular manner so. They say when they are exported there is a draw back* upon them which makes them lower with us. . . .
The city of London is pleasenter than I expected, the Buildings more regular the streets much wider and more Sun shine than I thought to have found, but this they tell me is the pleasentest season to be in the city. At my lodgings I am as quiet as any place in Boston, nor do I feel as if it could be any other place than Boston. . . .
[The women] paint here, near as much as in France, but with more art, the head dress disfigures them in the Eye of an American. I have seen many Ladies; but not one Elegant one since I came; there is not to me that neatness in their appearence which you see in our Ladies.
The American Ladies are much admired here by the Gentlemen, I am told, and in truth I wonder not at it. O my Country; my Country; preserve; preserve the little purity and simplicity of manners you yet possess. Believe me, they are jewells of inestimable value.
The softness peculiarly characteristick of our sex and which is so pleasing to the Gentlemen, is Wholy laid asside here; for the Masculine attire and Manners of Amazonians. . . .
Our ship is not yet got up the Channel. What a time we should have had of it, if we had not landed. . . .
Mr. Smith expects to sail on Monday or twesday, I shall keep open this Letter untill he goes. Let Sister Shaw see it, and read such parts as you think proper to the rest of our Friends, but do not let it go out of your hands. I shall not have time to write to the rest of my Friends, they must not think hardly of me. I could only repeat what I have here written. . . .

* A British import duty on silk that was refunded, in part, for goods that were re-exported to America (OED). Drawbacks had been a standard feature of certain import duties just before the Revolution, notably upon tea.

“Abigail Adams to Mary Smith Cranch, 6 – 30 July 1784,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed September 29, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-05-02-0204. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Adams Family Correspondence, vol. 5, October 1782 – November 1784, ed. Richard Alan Ryerson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993, pp. 358–386.]

Although MARY “POLLY” HEWSON lost her husband in 1774 and was left to raise her three children on her own (see previous post), in that same year Polly’s aunt died leaving her a small inheritance that eventually when it was settled enabled her to live in relative comfort. “I shall be rich enough to indulge myself and my children in any occasional expences that will essentially gratify me or benefit them.”
With all hope of reconciliation between Britain and her American colonies abandoned, Polly’s friend and mentor Benjamin Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1775. The United States, at war with Britain, sent Franklin to Paris in 1777 to seek French aid and negotiate a treaty. Polly and Franklin continued to correspond as best they could during wartime, Polly forwarding news about Franklin’s friends in England.

My letters are a kind of private newspaper, I give the articles just as they happen to occur without regard to order or connection. I fancy this kind will be most pleasing to you, as it will not require an answer, and will make you feel somewhat like having your English friends about you.

Of course Polly described her children’s progress. She had a mind of her own and did not hesitate to go against custom when it seemed sensible to do so. She refused to dress her daughter in stays for example.

Contrary to fashion, and consequently to the opinion of most people (you know in some points I am very obstinate) I keep her without stays, by which means her shape retains its natural grace; being unconfined, and her motions free, her health too is preserved.

In January 1783, Benjamin Franklin wrote to Polly about the end of the war:

At length we are in Peace, God be praised; & long, very long may it continue. All Wars are Follies, very expensive & very mischievous ones. When will Mankind be convinc’d of this, and agree to settle their Differences by Arbitration? Were they to do it even by the Cast of a Dye, it would be better than by Fighting & destroying each other.

Franklin invited Polly and her children to spend the winter of 1784-85 with him in his residence in Passy. Much to his delight she accepted. Franklin loved small children and enjoyed their company. He wrote to her after she and the children had departed:

…My love to William and Thomas and Eliza, and tell them I miss their cheerful prattle. . . . I have found it very triste breakfasting alone, and sitting alone, and without any tea in the evening.

Polly was uncertain about where her children would be most likley to meet with success. Franklin offered this advice.

With regard to the future Establishment of your Children, which you say you want to consult me about, I am still of Opinion that America will afford you more Chances of doing it well than England. All the means of good Education are plenty there, the general Manners more simple & pure, Temptations to Vice and Folly fewer, the Profits of Industry in Business as great and sure as in England; and there is one Advantage more which your Command of Money will give you there, I mean the laying out a Part of your Fortune in new Land, now to be had extreamly cheap, but which must be increas’d immensely in Value before your Children come of Age, by the rapid Population of the Country. If you should arrive there while I live, you know you may depend on every Assistance in my Power to afford you, and I think my Children will have a Pleasure too in serving their Father’s Friend. I do not offer it as a Motive that you will be much esteem’d and respected there, for that you are & must be every where; but give me leave to flatter myself that my being made happier in my last Years by your Neighbourhood and Society, may be some Inducement to you.

Hewson did relocate to America with her children and lived in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin lent her some money, $185.30, in January of 1787 to help her get settled. During Franklin’s last illness, when his pain eased, Polly read to him from Johnson’s Lives of the Poets. Franklin died in 1790, age 84.

Polly’s children did indeed do well in the United States. William Jr. obtained some land and became a farmer, Thomas became a medical doctor, and Elizabeth married an American. Franklin’s “surrogate daughter” Polly died the 14th of October 1795 aged 56.

“To Benjamin Franklin from Mary Hewson, 8 September 1776,” “To Benjamin Franklin from Mary Hewson, 23 December 1781,” “From Benjamin Franklin to Mary Hewson, 27 January 1783,” “From Benjamin Franklin to Mary Hewson, 7 September 1783,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-22-02-0355. [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 22, March 23, 1775, through October 27, 1776, ed. William B. Willcox. New Haven and London:: Yale University Press, 1982, pp. 287-289, 594–596, 67–68, 588–590.]
Carl Van Doren, Benjamin Franklin (New York: Viking Press, 1938), 638, 738, 776.
Autograph letter signed (“B. Franklin”) to Mary “Polly” Hewson, Passy, 13 April 1782.

The engraving of Benjamin Franklin is by Edward Fisher after Mason Chamberlin’s 1762 portrait; it was created while Franklin was living in London. (National Portrait Gallery NPG.70.66.) In November 1762 Benjamin Franklin left England for America. Scientist that he was, pondering why the journey east across the Atlantic was shorter than the journey west, he charted the Gulf Stream on the voyage.

MARY “POLLY” STEVENSON (HEWSON to be) wrote to Franklin in March of 1763:

It was with great pleasure I h[eard of] your safe and happy arrival at Philadelphia; and [hearti]ly congratulate you and the dear Partakers of y[our Socie]ty, but you must all forgive me if I repine [that] you are oblig’d to enjoy it at so great a d[istance] from me.

Franklin replied:

Your pleasing Favour of Nov. 11 [missing] is now before me. It found me as you suppos’d it would, happy with my American Friends and Family about me; and it made me more happy in showing me that I am not yet forgotten by the dear Friends I left in England….

Benjamin Franklin returned to England in 1764 as an agent to Parliament and again took up residence at Craven Street. Still loyal to Britain, he proposed an alternate way of raising money when Britain found itself in great debt after the Seven Years War but Parliament decided on the Stamp Act (1765) which was mightily resisted by the American Colonies. Franklin testified before Parliament the following year urging its repeal.* He became a staunch supporter of the rebel cause and relocated to Paris where he helped negotiate a treaty (1778) with the French whose support enabled the United States to successfully prosecute the war.
* See Franklin’s testimony before Parliament here.

Meanwhile Polly Stevenson and Benjamin Franklin kept up their relationship. Polly wrote him in July of 1765:

I stole away from company, for I have a pleasure in holding an imaginary conversation with you tho I have nothing in my head worth imparting. Perhaps were I to set about it I could ask you some questions, for that is easily done, but I know you have not leisure to answer them, therefore a mere chit chat letter will suit you best at present.

Benjamin Franklin sent Polly a verse he had composed for her 28th birthday. More on their relationship in the next post.

“To Benjamin Franklin from Mary Stevenson, 11 March 1763,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-10-02-0116. [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 10, January 1, 1762, through December 31, 1763, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1959, pp. 216–217.]“From Benjamin Franklin to Mary Stevenson, 25 March 1763,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-10-02-0123. [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 10, January 1, 1762, through December 31, 1763, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1959, pp. 231–235.]

MARY “POLLY” STEVENSON (later HEWSON) and Benjamin Franklin continued to correspond with each other when time and circumstances allowed, she at Wanstead and he at Craven Street or abroad. Many of the topics discussed had to do with science, the distillation of sea water for example, or the contents of a book or manuscript Franklin had lent Polly. In a letter of 8 March 1762 Franklin says he cannot complain about not having received a letter from her …

being conscious that by not writing my self I have forfeited all Claim to such Favour; tho’ no Letters give me more Pleasure, and I often wish to hear from you, but Indolence grows upon me with Years, and Writing grows more and more irksome to me. Have you finish’d your Course of Philosophy? No more Doubts, to be resolv’d; no more Questions to ask? If so, you may now be at full Leisure to improve your self in Cards. Adieu my dear Child, and believe me ever Your affectionate Friend

Polly replied:

Wanstead March 10, 1762Dear Sir
. . . . I have not finish’d my Course of Philosophy, nor do I desire to be at full Leisure to improve myself in Cards. I confess you have just Reason to complain of me, and my Indolence merits your severe Rebuke. Your Letter fill’d me with Confusion, and I assure you it will be a Spur to my Industry. The Season is advancing that will admit of my rising early to have some Hours free from Interruption which I shall devote to the Improvement of my Mind. At present, tho’ we live more retir’d, I have less Time to myself: Yet I have not been idle. I have read the Letters you favour’d me with,* and think I understand them. The Clearness of my Preceptor’s Demonstration and Expression appear tho his Words are put into a foreign Language.

* The second edition of Dalibard’s translation of Benjamin Franklin’s Experiments and Observations, published in 1756.

When Franklin learned that Polly was looking for a house nearer to London he forwarded this information to her.

Are you provided with a House? If not, look into Tomorrow’s Daily Advertiser where you will find one to be let at Ealing, which I know and think I could recommend as to the Pleasantness of the Neighbourhood, Roads, &c. if the Description appears such as may make the rest agreable. I know there is a good deal of Garden, and abundance of Room in and about the House.

Here is the ad Franklin refers to:

The Daily Advertiser, May 27, 1762, advertised a “neat convenient House” for lease at Great Ealing in Middlesex Co. The house contained three parlors, four bedrooms, four servants’ rooms, stabling for four horses, and a “Garden wall’d and planted with the best Fruit-Trees, and full cropp’d.”

“From Benjamin Franklin to Mary Stevenson, 8 March 1762,” “To Benjamin Franklin from Mary Stevenson, 10 March 1762,”Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-10-02-0029. [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 10, January 1, 1762, through December 31, 1763, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1959, pp. 64–66, 84-85.] The photograph is of 36 Craven Street now a museum.

Benjamin Franklin, that amazing polymath—printer, author, publisher, inventor, scientist, philosopher, and diplomat—was sent to London in 1757 by the Pennsylvania Assembly to protest the influence of the Penn family in the state. Subsequently he represented American interests in England until 1775. During his many lengthy missions Franklin took lodgings in London at 36 Craven Street, just off the Strand. (I visited the site, marked with a Blue Plaque, when I lived in London. It was not yet the Benjamin Franklin House Museum it became in 2006.) His landlady was Mary Stevenson with whom he became friends. He took an interest in her daughter MARY STEVENSON called “POLLY”, and in her education to which he contributed. She expresses her gratitude for his friendship in the following letter.

Wanstead, Janr 14. 1760Dear Sir
Permit me to address you with the Compliment of the Season; not merely as a Compliment, but with a fervent sincerity. May this Year give you a happy sight of your Native Country, and of those dear Relations you left in it; and if there is anything else wanting to compleat your Felicity, May that be added! May you enjoy a long succession of Years, fraught with all the Blessings you desire!
I thank you, dear Sir, for the present you intend me. Your kind Remembrance of me upon every occasion demands my utmost Gratitude. I am extremely happy in finding I am still so much the object of your Regard; and I hope I shall continue to be so, for I shall never cease to be with the highest Esteem your grateful and affectionate Humble Servant
M Stevenson

The gift Polly speaks of was possibly a silver inkstand, according to a footnote to the letter on the Founders Archive, made by Edward Aldridge and John Stamper of London in 1758 or 1759 and inscribed: “The Gift of Benjamin Franklin to Mary Stevenson.” In 1936 it was in the possession of Mrs. Mary Hewson Bradford Laning. It is described and illustrated in R. T. H. Halsey, comp., Benjamin Franklin and His Circle a Catalogue of an Exhibition (Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y., 1936), pp. 140, 141. The painting is of Franklin in London 1767 by David Martin; it hangs in the White House. The citation for the letter follows: “To Benjamin Franklin from Mary Stevenson, 14 January 1760,” Founders Online, National Archives, last modified June 13, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-09-02-0008. [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 9, January 1, 1760, through December 31, 1761, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966, pp. 19–20.]