“FOOTPRINTS OF FRANKLIN”
(A Book of Stories about Franklin’s Past)
Franklin has been my home ever since I was born and I love living here. Early members
of my family have been here since the mid 1800’s on farms that have remained in our family for 100-150 years. For as long as I can remember I have heard stories of Franklin and its people, about what life was like in the past and how things have changed.
As I grew up, I too became a witness and a participant to the changes that occurred in Franklin. In the early 1950’s when the one-room schools closed and the original Ben Franklin School was built, I was among one of the first classes there. Then years later when Franklin High School opened my 8th grade class was moved into the building. Through the years I have seen farmland disappear and subdivisions built, the Industrial Park developed and the Civic Center moved to an area near my childhood home.
I also love history, especially family histories and local history. That is one reason why I found it interesting to talk to families in Franklin and do further research when writing the stories that appear in this book. So after retiring from teaching I joined the Franklin Historical Society because of that interest and because I was encouraged to do so by Al Block, founder and former President of the society. He also just happened to have been my history teacher at Franklin High School!
A few years ago I was asked by Jim Luckey, now the President of the Franklin Historical Society to write a history column for a Franklin newspaper called The Citizen (later The Chronicle). The column was called “Historically Speaking” and it included stories from the From Cabins to Condos book published by the historical society in 2006 and later stories that I had researched. Three years and 80 stories later the column ended.
When that happened I was encouraged by members of the historical society to publish these additional stories in order to preserve the history of Franklin. With a grant from WaterStone Bank this book is now possible. It is my hope that the reader will enjoy these stories and learn more about what made Franklin the city it is today.