Benjamin Franklin was one of the most astute Americans of his time, and as such, he wasn't about to allow himself to be played like a violin. He was never known to yield to manipulation. At least that became the opinion of folks in Wrentham, Massachusetts, after he turned them down on their appeal for help in obtaining a church bell.
The trouble began at the end of the War for Independence when a dispute arose that divided the citizens of Wrentham. The discord grew so intense that the dissidents departed, started their own town, and named it New Wrentham.
The first building the citizens set out to erect was their own church. This was not surprising since New England tradition put that institution at the cultural, social, religious, and governmental center of every town. The founding fathers of the new community went right to work, but there was a problem. When they finished building the church, someone noted that there was no bell in the steeple. This meant that there was no way to summon the local citizens for services, or for emergencies such as fire. Therefore, the town leaders put their heads together and came up with a plan.
Knowing of Franklin's interest in community buildings, the folks of New Wrentham figured they could count on him for their bell. All they needed was to gain the old patriot's attention. To accomplish this, they put a proverbial carrot at the end of the stick and announced that they had changed the name of their town to Franklin, in hopes that he would help them
Next they wrote him a letter, informing him of their action and asking him to donate a bell for their church. Dr. Franklin, however, was not too impressed. He wrote back, suggesting that "sense is better than sound," and offered a better way for him to assist the fledgling community.
Instead of a bell, Franklin sent the good citizens a crate of books, intimating that they should forget about the house of worship for awhile and start a library. For Franklin, books were much more important than the sound of a church bell.
The people followed Franklin's advice and as a result, today, over 200 years later, they have the oldest public library in the United States-a continuing monument to Benjamin Franklin's refusal to allow any group of people to use him for their own purposes, not even when they were willing to change the name of their town.
