With Franklin, a new photographic history of the town and
its people, well-known local historian and columnist
James C. Johnston Jr. presents a sensitive retrospective of his
hometown. Buildings, people, documents, modes of transportation,
and all aspects of life as it once was are illustrated vividly in
Mr. Johnston's fascinating collection of images from the past.
In the 1660s the first European settlers came to Franklin, which
was originally inhabited by the Wampanoag Indians. The town was
named for Benjamin Franklin, in a somewhat successful attempt to
flatter the famous and influential American statesman. A gift of books
sent to the town by Mr. Franklin formed the basis for the very first
public library in the United States.
A well-read and inventive community, Franklin has been home to
a number of influential Americans itself, including Horace Mann, the
"Father of American Education." Mr. Johnston's pictorial history of
Franklin honors the memory of these great citizens and also chronicles
the development of the town through its industrial revolution.