06/17/2026
JUNE 1776: ARREST OF ROYAL GOVERNOR WILLIAM FRANKLIN (PART 1)
One of the most significant events of June 1776 was the arrest of Royal Governor William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin.
While still under house arrest at Proprietary House in Perth Amboy since January, on June 3 Franklin tried to reassert his power by calling a meeting with the New Jersey Assembly. Provincial Congress responded that the instruction “ought not to be obeyed.”
On June 15, Provincial Congress ordered militia officer Nathaniel Heard to go to Proprietary House and present Franklin with the options to be placed under arrest or sign a parole in which he would agree to step down and leave peaceably. When Heard presented Franklin with the choice, Franklin refused the parole, so a group of about 60 guards were placed at the house. Shortly after, on June 19 Franklin was arrested. He was taken to face Provincial Congress at their meeting in Burlington, where he was defiant. He rejected Congress’ authority and told them, “do as you please, and make the best of it.”
On June 25, orders came from Continental Congress that Franklin should be taken to East Windsor, Connecticut. He remained a prisoner in Connecticut, from where he surreptitiously engaged Americans in supporting the Loyalist cause. When he was discovered, he was taken into solitary confinement and remained there for eight months.
