# The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin — Character guide

> Key figures in The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin.

- [Benjamin Franklin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/benjamin_franklin.md): Franklin opens his life as a letter to his son, tracing how a hungry apprentice became a master printer, civic improver, and Enlightenment celebrity. His hunger for reputation wars with his professed humility, and he con
- [Samuel Keimer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/samuel_keimer.md): Keimer runs a ragged print shop where Franklin works while secretly measuring his own prospects against his master's disorder. Odd in dress and doctrine, he embodies the precarious tradesman Franklin vows not to become, 
- [James Ralph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/james_ralph.md): Ralph arrives in London with Franklin, dreaming of patronage and verse while relying on his friend's purse and patience. His charm and fecklessness expose the young Franklin to the seductions of literary London and the h
- [George Whitefield](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/george_whitefield.md): Whitefield sweeps the colonies with revival fervor, and Franklin, though skeptical of his doctrine, is fascinated by his oratory and its practical effects. Their friendship lets Franklin study persuasion at close range w
- [John Collins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/john_collins.md): Franklin's boyhood friend from Boston who later fell into debt and drink.
- [Thomas Denham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/thomas_denham.md): Denham meets Franklin in London, lends him money, and urges him home with promises of employment, becoming the steady patron the young printer lacked. His plain honesty and business sense contrast with Keimer's chaos and
- [James Morris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/james_morris.md): Pennsylvania assemblyman and deputy postmaster who worked with Franklin.
- [Colonel Dunbar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/colonel_dunbar.md): British officer commanding the rear of Braddock's expedition.
- [Andrew Bradford](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/andrew_bradford.md): Bradford holds the town's printing and postal business when Franklin arrives, a fixture of the old order against which the newcomer measures himself. Their rivalry plays out through contracts, newspapers, and the post of
- [William Franklin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/william_franklin.md): William Franklin is the intimate audience for the Autobiography's opening section, the son whose father writes with unusual warmth and informality. That closeness carries an undercurrent of tension: the same son would gr
- [Sir William Keith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/sir_william_keith.md): Keith is the polished patron who takes an interest in the ambitious teenage printer and fills his head with plans for a London equipment-buying trip. His grand assurances prove hollow, leaving Franklin stranded abroad an
- [Lord Loudoun](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/lord_loudoun.md): British commander-in-chief in America during the French and Indian War.
- [General Braddock](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/general_braddock.md): Braddock arrives in the colonies with professional swagger and little patience for frontier advice, including Franklin's cautions about ambush and Indian warfare. Franklin, drawn into the campaign as a supplier, watches 
- [Charles Osborne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/charles_osborne.md): Young friend of Franklin in Philadelphia, fond of disputation.
- [Captain Denny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/captain_denny.md): British officer who served under Braddock and later became governor.
- [Deborah Read](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/deborah_read.md): Miss Read is the early romantic thread in Franklin's narrative, the woman he leaves behind with vague promises when he sails for England. Her circumstances sour in his absence, and their reunion is complicated by an unfo
- [John Bigelow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/john_bigelow.md): Editor of the autobiography's first complete edition.
- [Thomas Bond](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/thomas_bond.md): Physician who co-founded the Pennsylvania Hospital with Franklin.
- [Andrew Hamilton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/andrew_hamilton.md): Prominent Philadelphia lawyer who defended the printer Zenger.
- [Peter Collinson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/peter_collinson.md): London merchant and botanist who corresponded with Franklin about electricity.
- [Thomas Godfrey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/thomas_godfrey.md): Glazier and mathematician, inventor of the quadrant, friend of Franklin.
- [Captain Holmes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/captain_holmes.md): Sea captain and brother-in-law of Franklin who helped him in Boston.
- [General Shirley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/general_shirley.md): British governor of Massachusetts and commander during the war.
- [Deborah Franklin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/deborah_franklin.md): Deborah Franklin is the quiet anchor of Franklin's domestic and business life, managing the shop, the accounts, and the family while he travels and negotiates on behalf of the colonies. Their marriage is affectionate yet
- [Josiah Franklin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/josiah_franklin.md): Franklin's father, a tallow chandler and candle maker in Boston.
- [Samuel Vernon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/samuel_vernon.md): Friend from Boston who lent Franklin money for his London trip.
- [Hugh Meredith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/hugh_meredith.md): Franklin's partner in his first printing business in Philadelphia.
- [John Fothergill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/john_fothergill.md): London physician who advised Franklin on colonial affairs.
- [Charles Brockden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/charles_brockden.md): Philadelphia scrivener and friend who helped Franklin with legal documents.
- [David Harry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/david_harry.md): Printer who worked for Keimer and later started his own business.
- [Ebenezer Kinnersley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/ebenezer_kinnersley.md): Friend and collaborator who helped Franklin with electrical experiments.
- [Poor Richard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/poor_richard.md): Fictional persona of Franklin's almanac, dispensing proverbs and wit.
- [Riddlesden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/riddlesden.md): A dishonest lawyer who tried to cheat Franklin's friend Vernon.
- [James Foster](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/james_foster.md): English dissenting minister whose sermons Franklin admired.
- [Josiah Quincy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/josiah_quincy.md): Boston merchant who visited Philadelphia and corresponded with Franklin.
- [Abel James](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/abel_james.md): Philadelphia merchant and friend who urged Franklin to write his autobiography.
- [Le Veillard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/le_veillard.md): French friend who received a manuscript copy of the autobiography.
- [Joseph Breintnal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/joseph_breintnal.md): Philadelphia merchant and member of Franklin's Junto club.

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