Franklin’s parents grave

There are many historical artifacts and monuments in Boston. This is one of my favorites: It’s in the center of the Granary Burying Ground, the third-oldest cemetery in Boston. Casual tourists will assume the monument marks Ben Franklin’s grave, but they are wrong: it is for his parents.Ben Franklin wrote an inscription for his parents’ grave. The marker deteriorated and in 1827 was replaced with this large obelisk and a new plaque.The plaque is far from the walkway and hard to read even up close:It reads: JOSIAH FRANKLIN AND ABIAH HIS WIFE lie here interred. They lived lovingly together in wedlock fifty five years. And without an estate, or any gainful employment, by constant labor and honest industry, maintained a large family comfortably, and brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren respectably. From this instance, reader, be encouraged to diligence in thy calling, and distrust not providence. He was a pious and prudent man; she a discreet and virtuous woman. THEIR…