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Mrs. Silence Dogood was the
pen name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
used by
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
to get his work published in the ''
New-England Courant'', a newspaper founded and published by his brother
James Franklin. This was after Benjamin Franklin was denied several times when he tried to publish letters under his own name in the ''Courant''. The 14 Mrs. Silence Dogood letters were first printed in 1722.
History
As a young boy, Franklin worked as an
apprentice
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
in his older brother's printing shop in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, where ''The New-England Courant'' was published and printed.
Franklin never got anything he wrote published, so, at age 16, he created the persona of a middle-aged
widow
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...
named Silence Dogood.
Once every two weeks, he would leave a letter under the door of his brother's printing shop. A total of 14 letters were sent. The first letter began:
The letters poked fun at various aspects of life in
colonial America
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...
, such as this quote about
hoop petticoats:
The letters were published in ''The New-England Courant'' fortnightly, and amused readers. Some men wrote in offering to marry Ms. Dogood, upon learning she was widowed.
Eventually, James found out that all fourteen of the letters had been written by his younger brother, which angered him. Benjamin left his apprenticeship without permission and escaped to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
[Van Doren, Carl. ''Benjamin Franklin''. (1938). Penguin reprint 1991.]
Letters 1 & 2 – Dogood's background
Franklin created a whole background for his character, and explained this in depth in the majority of his first letter:
The whole second letter was an account of Dogood's life:
In popular culture
The Silence Dogood letters feature in the 2004 movie ''
National Treasure
The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundame ...
''. After stealing the
United States Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...
, cryptologist Benjamin Franklin Gates (
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...
), Riley Poole (
Justin Bartha
Justin Lee Bartha (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor, known for his roles as Riley Poole in the ''National Treasure'' film series, Doug Billings in ''The Hangover'' trilogy, and David Sawyer in the NBC comedy series '' The New Normal''. ...
), and Dr. Abigail Chase (
Diane Kruger
Diane Kruger ( Heidkrüger; ; born 15 July 1976) is a German and American actress. Early in her career, Kruger gained worldwide recognition and received the Trophée Chopard from the Cannes Film Festival.
Kruger became known for her roles in f ...
) find an
Ottendorf cipher hidden in invisible ink on the back of the Declaration. Following the discovery of a
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
riddle, which said "The key in Silence undetected", a link between the Silence Dogood letters and the cipher is established. The cipher is used to find the hidden message in the letters, which proves to be another clue. With the help of a fellow museum visitor (Yves Michael-Beneche), Riley gains the letters of the cipher needed to complete the puzzle while remaining undetected by their enemies, led by Ian Howe (
Sean Bean
Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...
).
References
External links
The Papers of Benjamin Franklin online archive which includes the Dogood letters BROKEN LINK
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dogood, Silence
Letters (message)
Benjamin Franklin
Works by Benjamin Franklin
18th-century pseudonymous writers