Did Benjamin Franklin die from a venereal disease?
His death is described in the book The Life of Benjamin Franklin: “…when his pain and difficulty of breathing entirely left him, and his family were flattering themselves with the hopes of his recovery, when an imposthumations, which had formed itself in his lungs, suddenly burst, and discharged a great quantity of matter, which he continued to throw up while he had strength to do it; but, as that failed, the organ of inspiration became gradually oppressed; a calm lethargic state succeeded, and on the 17th of April, 1790, at eleven o’clock at night, he quietly expired, closing a long and useful life of eighty-four years and three months.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Fr… Franklin was not only a man of letter and science but one possessed by a lusty nature. He was without a doubt a ladies man. His penchant for ‘low women’ a politically correct term in the 18th century for prostitutes
Franklin’s physician, informed the readers of Franklin’s final illness. He had been suffering from empyema, pus filling in his lung brought on by attacks of pleurisy many years earlier. His temperature was high. This made breathing laborious, and he almost suffocated. After several days of breathing woes, the pain went away for a day, upon which he left his bed and asked that it be made properly so that he might have a dignified death. His daughter, Sally, told him that she hoped he would live many years more. “I hope not,” he replied. An abscess in Franklin’s lung burst and he passed into a coma. He died on April 17, 1790, with his grandsons William Temple and Bennie at his side. Benjamin Franklin was 84 years old.
