Franklin B. Sanborn
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Franklin Benjamin Sanborn (December 15, 1831 – February 24, 1917) was an American journalist, teacher, author, reformer, and abolitionist. Sanborn was a social scientist, and a memorialist of American transcendentalism who wrote early biographies of many of the movement's key figures. He founded the
American Social Science Association In 1865, at Boston, Massachusetts, a society for the study of social questions was organized and given the name American Social Science Association. The group grew to where its membership totaled about 1,000 persons. About 30 corresponding members ...
, in 1865, "to treat wisely the great social problems of the day". He was a member of the so-called Secret Six, or "Committee of Six", which funded or helped obtain funding for
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
; in fact he introduced Brown to the others.


Biography


Early years and education

Franklin Sanborn was born at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, the son of Aaron and Lydia (Leavitt) Sanborn. He already believed himself capable of making a stir in the world by the age of two, having held up a stick in a thunderstorm and experienced being struck by lightning. At age nine, following careful reading of the abolitionist newspapers '' The National Era'' and
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...
's '' New-York Tribune'', Franklin announced to his family that slavery was wrong and the United States Constitution should be revised or revoked. In 1850, at the suggestion of his future wife Ariana Walker, Sanborn arranged to study with the
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
teacher and private tutor John Gibson Hoyt. He would focus on Greek for a year, then enter
Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...
. This was followed by enrollment at
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, from which he graduated in 1855. Classmate and friend at Harvard was
Edwin Morton The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (died ...
, who would be employed by
Gerrit Smith Gerrit Smith (March 6, 1797 – December 28, 1874), also spelled Gerritt Smith, was a leading American social reformer, abolitionist, businessman, public intellectual, and philanthropist. Married to Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, Smith was a candidat ...
as tutor and private secretary.


Professional life

Sanborn was active in politics as a member of the Free Soil Party in
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
and
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
. In 1856, he became secretary of the
Massachusetts State Kansas Committee Border ruffians were proslavery raiders, crossing from the slave state of Missouri into the Kansas Territory, to help ensure Kansas entered the Union as a slave state. They were a key part of the violent period called Bleeding Kansas, that pea ...
and came into close touch with
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
. Sanborn was one of six influential men who supplied Brown with support for the
raid on Harpers Ferry Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college s ...
of October 16–18, 1859. This group was later termed the Secret Six. Although Sanborn disavowed advance knowledge of the attack, he defended Brown to the end of his life, assisted in the support of Brown's widow and children, and made periodic pilgrimages to his grave. He was present at the 1882 burial of
Watson Brown Watson Brown may refer to: * Watson Brown (American football) (born 1950), retired American football coach and former player * Watson Brown (abolitionist) Watson Brown (October 7, 1835 – October 19, 1859) was a son of the abolitionist John Brown ...
beside his father. On the night of April 3, 1860, five federal marshals arrived at Frank Sanborn's home in
Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the conflu ...
, handcuffed him, and attempted to wrestle him into a coach and take him to Washington to answer questions before the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
in regard to his involvement with John Brown. Approximately 150 townspeople rushed to Sanborn's defense, aroused by church bells. Judge
Lemuel Shaw Lemuel Shaw (January 9, 1781 – March 30, 1861) was an American jurist who served as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1830–1860). Prior to his appointment he also served for several years in the Massachusetts House ...
issued a writ of
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
, formally demanding the surrender of the prisoner. In a letter to a friend,
Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Little Men'' (1871) and ''Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in ...
wrote, "Sanborn was nearly kidnapped. Great ferment in town. Annie Whiting immortalized herself by getting into the kidnapper's carriage so that they could not put the long-legged martyr in." From 1863 to 1868 Sanborn was an editor of ''The Commonwealth'' newspaper of Boston, from 1867 to 1897 of the ''Journal of Social Science'', and from 1868 to 1914 a correspondent of the ''
Springfield Republican ''The Republican'' is a newspaper based in Springfield, Massachusetts covering news in the Greater Springfield area, as well as national news and pieces from Boston, Worcester and northern Connecticut. It is owned by Newhouse Newspapers, a ...
''. He was one of the founders of, and was closely identified with, the
American Social Science Association In 1865, at Boston, Massachusetts, a society for the study of social questions was organized and given the name American Social Science Association. The group grew to where its membership totaled about 1,000 persons. About 30 corresponding members ...
(secretary 1865–1897), the National Prison Association, the National Conference of Charities, the
Clarke School for the Deaf Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech (formerly Clarke School for the Deaf) is a national nonprofit organization that specializes in educating children who are deaf or hard of hearing using listening and spoken language (oralism) through the assi ...
, the Massachusetts Infant Asylum, and the
Concord School of Philosophy The Concord School of Philosophy was a lyceum-like series of summer lectures and discussions of philosophy in Concord, Massachusetts from 1879 to 1888. History Starting the Concord School of Philosophy had long been a goal of founder Amos Brons ...
. He lectured at
Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, Smith, and Wellesley. In October 1863, he became secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Charities, the first established in America. He was secretary from 1863 to 1868, a member from 1870 to 1876, and chairman from 1874 to 1876. In 1875, he made a searching investigation into the abuses of the
Tewksbury Tewksbury may refer to: Places *Tewksbury, Massachusetts, USA *Tewksbury Township, New Jersey, USA *Tewksbury Heights, Contra Costa County, California, USA *Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England **Tewkesbury (UK Parliament constituency) **Borough of ...
almshouse, and in consequence that institution was reformed. In 1879 he helped to reorganize the system of Massachusetts charities, with special reference to the care of children and insane persons, in July 1879 becoming State Inspector of Charities under the new board, serving until 1888.


Personal life

Sanborn lived in
Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the conflu ...
. He was twice married, first to Ariana Walker in 1854 for eight days until she died. Following his first wife's death, Sanborn courted nineteen-year-old Edith Emerson, the daughter of
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
of Concord. (Sanborn's aunt Miss Alice Leavitt, his mother's sister, was personal nurse to Ralph Waldo Emerson's widow Lydian.) Sanborn ultimately proposed to Miss Emerson in 1861, and was rejected. He apparently took offense and launched into a series of letters to Miss Emerson's mother. Those letters apparently inflamed the Emerson family, with the result that Ralph Waldo drafted a chilly letter to Sanborn, informing Sanborn of Emerson's wife's displeasure at having been accused. The matter did not end happily, with Mrs. Emerson writing her own letter of reproach to Sanborn. Ultimately, Sanborn begrudgingly apologized and moved on. He married as his second wife his cousin Louisa Augusta Leavitt in 1862—said to look enough like Sanborn to be his sister—the daughter of Sanborn's uncle Joseph Melcher Leavitt, a Boston merchant (Sanborn's other uncle was
Benson Leavitt Benson Leavitt (21 June 1797–1 June 1869) was a Boston, Massachusetts, businessman, born in New Hampshire, who served as an Alderman of Boston, and later as acting mayor after the incumbent became incapacitated and died while in office. ...
, once a partner of his wife's father and later acting mayor of
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 ...
). Louisa Leavitt had worked as a schoolteacher at the Concord school Sanborn founded. The couple were married at the Church of the Disciples in Boston by abolitionist minister
James Freeman Clarke James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American minister, theologian and author. Biography Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though h ...
. They had three sons, the poet
Thomas Parker Sanborn Thomas Parker Sanborn (; February 24, 1865 - March 2, 1889) was an American poet. The eldest son of abolitionist, social scientist, and memorialist of American transcendentalism Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, Thomas became a close friend of philos ...
, the genealogist
Victor Channing Sanborn Victor Channing Sanborn (April 24, 1867 – January 13, 1921) was an American genealogist whose documentation of the Sanborn line and other genealogical studies continue to be reliable source material. Early years Victor Channing Sanborn was bo ...
, and Francis Bachiler Sanborn. In 1880, Frank Sanborn built a large house on the banks of the Sudbury River in Concord, placing a plaque with the name of his first wife, Ariana, in a gable end. It was in this home that the Sanborns' eldest son,
Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...
, committed suicide in 1889, at the age of twenty-four, after which the Sanborns stayed for several months in the Emerson home. In 1891 Frank Sanborn moved his ailing and elderly friend, transcendental poet and walking-companion of Thoreau,
Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing II (November 29, 1817 – December 23, 1901) was an American Transcendentalist poet, nephew and namesake of the Unitarian preacher Dr. William Ellery Channing. His uncle was usually known as "Dr. Channing", while the ne ...
, into his home, where Channing subsequently died in 1901. Although the Sanborns' second son, Victor Channing Sanborn, was engaged in real estate for a living, he wrote frequently about his father and authored a book researching their ancestor Thomas Leavitt's origins.


Death and significance

Frank Sanborn died February 24, 1917, of a broken hip after being struck by a railroad baggage cart during a visit to his son Francis in
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. He was buried at
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch C ...
in Concord, near the graves of his friends and mentors Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Bronson Alcott Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and av ...
,
Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing II (November 29, 1817 – December 23, 1901) was an American Transcendentalist poet, nephew and namesake of the Unitarian preacher Dr. William Ellery Channing. His uncle was usually known as "Dr. Channing", while the ne ...
, and Henry Thoreau. Concord's flags were flown at half-mast for three days. At the end of the month, February, 1917, just prior to America's entering World War I, the Massachusetts House of Representatives recognized Sanborn's dedication to the unfortunate, the diseased, and the despised, citing Sanborn's role as a confidential adviser to John Brown, "for whose sake he was arrested, mistreated, and nearly deported." People loved and hated him.
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
described Sanborn as "a fighter, up in arms, a devotee, a revolutionary crusader, hot in the collar, quick on the trigger, noble, optimistic."Henry David Thoreau feared the passionate Concord schoolteacher was "only too steadfast and earnest", a type, as Thoreau put it, "that calmly, so calmly, ignites and then throws bomb after bomb." Sanborn lived a long life. He was revered in the end as a relic from a golden age gone by—a tall and venerable figure moving picturesquely through Boston and Concord.


Works (in order of publication)

* '' Thoreau'' (1872) * (Review of 1st edition.) * ''Dr. S. G. Howe'' (1891) * '' A. Bronson Alcott: His Life and Philosophy'' (with
William Torrey Harris William Torrey Harris (September 10, 1835 – November 5, 1909) was an American educator, philosopher, and lexicographer. He worked for nearly a quarter century in St. Louis, Missouri, where he taught school and served as Superintendent of School ...
) (1893) * '' Emerson'' (1895) *
''John Brown and His Friends''
(unknown, but after 1900) * * ''Personality of Thoreau'' (1902) * ''Personality of Emerson'' (1903) * ''A History of New Hampshire'' (1904) * ''
Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...
and His Friends'' (1908) * ''Bronson Alcott at Fruitlands'' (1908) * ''Recollections of Seventy Years'' (1909) * ''Thoreau and his Earliest Writings'' (1914) * ''Sixty years in Concord'' (1916) He contributed largely to the ''Proceedings'' of the
Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street in Bost ...
(1903–15). He also edited two volumes of ''
Theodore Parker Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his words and popular quotations would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincol ...
's Writings'' (1914), introduced Newton's ''Lincoln and Herndon'' (1913), and wrote brief biographies of
Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing II (November 29, 1817 – December 23, 1901) was an American Transcendentalist poet, nephew and namesake of the Unitarian preacher Dr. William Ellery Channing. His uncle was usually known as "Dr. Channing", while the ne ...
and of Mrs. Abbott-Wood of Lowell. He edited for the Boston Bibliophile Society five volumes of Thoreau's manuscripts, a volume of the Shelley- Payne correspondence, and one of the ''Fragments and Letters of T. L. Peacock''. He edited writings of Paul Jones.


Archival material

Manuscripts and letters are held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University.


See also

*
Thomas Parker Sanborn Thomas Parker Sanborn (; February 24, 1865 - March 2, 1889) was an American poet. The eldest son of abolitionist, social scientist, and memorialist of American transcendentalism Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, Thomas became a close friend of philos ...
*
Victor Channing Sanborn Victor Channing Sanborn (April 24, 1867 – January 13, 1921) was an American genealogist whose documentation of the Sanborn line and other genealogical studies continue to be reliable source material. Early years Victor Channing Sanborn was bo ...
* Secret Six


Notes


Further reading


''The Significance of Being Frank: The Life and Times of Franklin Benjamin Sanborn''
Tom Foran Clark, Bungalow Shop Books, Idyllwild, California, 2015
''A. Bronson Alcott: his life and philosophy, Volume 1''
Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, William Torrey Harris, John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, Mass., 1893 * Sanborn, Victor Channing. "Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, A.B., 1831-1917." Kansas Historical Collection, 1915-1918 13 (1918): 58–70. Followed by "Personal Reminiscences" by W. E. Connelley of the New Englander who was "one of the early friends of Kansas," as well as a friend, supporter, and later biographer of John Brown. *Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin, ''Ungathered Poems and Transcendental Papers'', Kenneth Walter Cameron, editor, Transcendental Books, Hartford, Connecticut, 1981.


External links



is held by the
Concord Free Public Library The Concord Free Public Library is a public library in the town of Concord, Massachusetts. The main building is located at 129 Main Street, and the Fowler branch is located at 1322 Main Street in West Concord. History The Concord Free Public Lib ...
. * * *
Author's Web page on ''The Significance of Being Frank: The Life and Times of Franklin Benjamin Sanborn'', by Tom Foran Clark
* Biography of F.B. Sanborn, Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Massachusetts, available on line a

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin 1831 births People from Hampton Falls, New Hampshire American newspaper editors 19th-century American historians Phillips Exeter Academy alumni American educators Harvard University alumni American male journalists American biographers American philanthropists American autobiographers People from Concord, Massachusetts 1917 deaths New Hampshire Free Soilers Massachusetts Free Soilers American abolitionists 19th-century American male writers Activists from New Hampshire Secret Six