Mecom then briefly summarized the moral philosopher Dr. At the very least, it seems Betty’s story made Mecom reflect on the relationship between intelligence, education, and status. Perhaps Mecom saw Betty as a kindred spirit and counted herself among the Bettys of the world. On July 21, 1786, Mecom responded to Franklin by stating that “sometimes the Betys has the Brightest understandings.” The “Betys” – undereducated, working-class women – could indeed be society’s brightest. Then he told her about an educated man and woman who could not figure out that “yf” was a phonetic spelling for “wife.” According to Franklin, “yf” was “a much better as well as shorter Method of Spelling Wife, than by Doubleyou, i, ef, e, which in reality Spells, Doubleyifey.” To prove this point, he noted that the couple’s chambermaid, Betty, immediately recognized that “yf” was pronounced “wife.” Franklin assured her that was a perfectly sensible way to write. In a letter dated July 4, 1786, Franklin told Mecom that she should not apologize for her “bad Spelling” in previous letters because she always spelled out words phonetically. They exchanged letters for pretty much their entire lives. Mecom was Franklin’s beloved younger sister. About one year ago, I began researching for the 2020 American Philosophical Society exhibition, the theme of which was “Benjamin Franklin’s science.” As lead curator, I had to decide: what kind of story about Franklin and science did I want this exhibition to tell?Įarly during the research phase, I came across an exchange of letters between Jane Franklin Mecom (1712-1794) and Benjamin Franklin and was immediately inspired.

Benjamin franklin sister jane