Benjamin Franklin is known as one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. However, this is not all he is known for. Benjamin is also the only person to have signed the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, Peace with Britain, and the Treaty of Paris. Many saw Benjamin as the most accomplished American of his time! However, a gruesome discovery in 1998 has raised some questions about who the man really was! Keep on reading to discover what the find was and why Benjamin was involved!
More than 1000 bones were buried in the garden of Benjamin’s home!
When renovations occurred at 36 Craven Street in 1998, a gruesome find was unearthed. The house once belonged to United States Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, but he rented out the property to Surgeon William Hewson. When the renovations started, the team found over 1200 human bones buried in the garden.
The find shows that there were illegal anatomical experiments conducted during the time that Hewson lived on the property. Hewson acquired bodies through grave robbing and dissections, later burying the remains at the property. The bones—some showing trepanning and dissection marks—blur the line between advancing medical knowledge and ethical boundaries.
The only reason they could prove that it was Hewson who buried the bones was because of one specific type of bone. In the midst of all the human remains, they found a turtle spine that was tainted with mercury. This is one of the experiments that Hewson did and wrote about in great detail.
Benjamin Franklin might have been involved!
Even though there is no evidence Benjamin Franklin actually participated in the illegal activities of William Hewson, it is likely that he knew about them. Experts now raise questions about Benjamin Franklin’s silence amidst these horrors, which cast a large shadow over his legacy!
