For nearly two decades leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence Benjamin Franklin lived in London in a house at 36 Craven Street. In 1776, Franklin left his English home to come back to America. More than 200 years later, 15 bodies were found in the basement, buried in a secret, windowless room beneath the garden.
In 1998, conservationists were doing repairs on 36 Craven, looking to turn Franklin’s old haunt into a museum. “From a one metre wide, one metre deep pit, over 1200 pieces of bone were retrieved”—remnants of more than a dozen bodies, says Benjamin Franklin House. Six were children. Forensic investigations showed that the bones dated to Franklin’s day.
Franklin was a noted revolutionary and powerful freemason—the Grand Master of Masons of Pennsylvania—so it’s easy to wonder what dark secrets Franklin may have hidden in his basement chamber….
Full Video: #1852 – Sam Tripoli