
William Frenklin not Ben ( Actor Barry Stevens)
The Name-Dropper: Franklin Turnpike
November 27, 2014 Last updated: Thursday, November 27, 2014, 1:21 AM
By JEFFREY PAGE
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD |
The Recor
Who was Lee of Fort Lee, Votee of Votee Park and Merritt of Camp Merritt? The Name-Dropper gives you the lowdown on some of the people whose names you see on public statues, memorial plaques, park signs, highways and even some local streets around North Jersey. Have suggestions? Email them to features@northjersey.com and put Name-Dropper in the subject field.
Everybody knows that Franklin Turnpike was named for the grand old man of the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, right?
You remember Ben, the heavyset guy who flew that kite in the electrical storm, who invented bifocals and the concept of the lending library. Ben, who told us: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Caution: Don’t bet on Ben. Truth is that the turnpike, an important north-south route through parts of Bergen County, was not named for Ben, not for Aretha, not for FDR and certainly not for Moe, who played 61 games for the Detroit Tigers in the early 1940s.
The Franklin in question was Ben’s illegitimate son, William, whose politics were far removed from his dad’s. Ben was part of the Colonial revolution. William was a staunch loyalist and, in fact, the Colonial governor of New Jersey for 13 years, appointed in 1762 by no less than King George III. It was during this period that the turnpike was developed and named for William. Franklin Lakes is also named for the former governor.
William made no secret of his loyalist leanings and his devotion to the king. And in William, King George clearly had a man he could trust. In William’s appointment, the king granted remarkable authority to his new governor: “We do hereby give and grant unto you full power and authority to suspend any of the members of our said council from sitting, voting and assisting therein if you shall find just cause for so doing.”
Later in the appointment document George said: “And you shall and may likewise from time to time as you shall judge it necessary adjourn, prorogue [discontinue] and dissolve all general assemblies as aforesaid.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/ben-franklin-turnpike-not-so-fast-it-s-named-for-his-illegitimate-son-1.1142587