Sarah Franklin Bache
circa 1793

Sarah Franklin Bache (September 11, 1743 – October 5, 1808) was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Deborah Read.

Known as "Sally" throughout her life, she was an ardent American patriot during the Revolutionary War through relief work and as her father's political hostess. She raised money for the Continental Army and is known for her involvement in the Ladies Association of Philadelphia. She took leadership of the group in 1780 and supervised the making of 2,200 shirts for the soldiers in the Continental Army the army's winter at Valley Forge, and often meeting at The Cliffs, a country estate owned by Samuel R Fisher on the Schuylkill River, two miles north of Philadelphia.

Sally married Richard Bache on October 29, 1767, even though her family was worried about his financial position. The couple had eight children:^[1]

• Benjamin Franklin Bache (b. 1769, d. 1798 during the Philadelphia Yellow Fever outbreak) married Margaret Markoe, leading journalist who died while imprisoned under the Sedition Act by the Federalists.
• William Franklin Bache (31 May 1773 - 1814) married Catherine Wistar
• Sarah Franklin Bache (1 December 1775-17 August 1776)("died very young")^[2]
• Eliza Franklin Bache (10 September 1777-1820) married John Harwood
• Louis Franklin Bache (7 October 1779-1819)
• Deborah Franklin Bache (b. 1 October 1781) married William J. Duane
• Richard Franklin Bache (11 March 1784-1848) married Sophia Durrell Dallas, the eldest daughter of Arabella Maria Smith and Alexander J. Dallas (statesman) who was an American statesman who served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary under President James Madison.
• Sarah Franklin Bache (b. 12 September 1788) married Thomas Sergeant.

Note: the children are given in this order, suggesting that the eldest is listed first, the youngest last.

Bache loved music and reading and was considered a skilled harpischordist. When her father died, he left most of his estate to her. Among the items bequeathed to her was a small portrait of Louis XVI surrounded by diamonds, which she sold to finance a trip to London. In 1794, she and her family moved to a farm outside of Philadelphia on the Delaware River.

Sarah Franklin Bache died in 1808 and is buried in Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[edit] References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (February 2008)

• Sarah Franklin Bache at Find a Grave
• "The Sarah Franklin Bache Papers, 1768-1807", American Philosophical Society
• "Bache and Wistar Family Correspondence 1777-1895", Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library
• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, by Benjamin Franklin
• Article in The Evening Bulletin, November 22, 1971, on the plans to convert the Cliffs to an historic farm.
• Article in The Evening Bulletin, January 27, 1975, on the plans to restore 16 historic houses including the Cliffs.
• Article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 23, 1986, on the burning of the Cliffs.