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Elizabeth <I>Downes</I> Franklin

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Elizabeth Downes Franklin

Birth
Saint Thomas, Barbados
Death
28 Jul 1778 (aged 49–50)
Manhattan, New York County, New York, USA
Burial
Manhattan, New York County, New York, USA
Memorial ID
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Elizabeth Downes married William on 4 September 1762 at St George's, Hanover Square, in London. She was born in the English colony of Barbados to the sugar planter John Downes and his wife, Elizabeth (née Parsons). She met Franklin while visiting England with her father in 1760. They moved to the New Jersey colony in 1763. Elizabeth died in 1778 while he was imprisoned as a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War. She was interred beneath the altar of St. Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan, where she had resided after the British evacuated Perth Amboy. The memorial plaque on the wall at St. Paul's was commissioned by William Franklin from London, where he went into exile following the war.

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In her 49 year.
first wife of William Franklin
Elizabeth Downes married William on 4 September 1762 at St George's, Hanover Square, in London. She was born in the English colony of Barbados to the sugar planter John Downes and his wife, Elizabeth (née Parsons). She met Franklin while visiting England with her father in 1760. They moved to the New Jersey colony in 1763. Elizabeth died in 1778 while he was imprisoned as a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War. She was interred beneath the altar of St. Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan, where she had resided after the British evacuated Perth Amboy. The memorial plaque on the wall at St. Paul's was commissioned by William Franklin from London, where he went into exile following the war.

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In her 49 year.
first wife of William Franklin

Inscription

Beneath the Altar of this Church are deposited the Remains of
Mrs ELIZABETH FRANKLIN, Wife of His Excellency
WILLIAM FRANKLIN Esq: late Governor under His
Britannick Majesty, of the Province of New Jersey.
Compelled by the adverse Circumstances of the Times, to
part from the Husband she loved, and at length deprived
of the soothing Hope of his speedy Return,
She sunk under accumulated Distresses, and departed this
Life on the 28th Day of July 1778, in the 49th Year of her Age.
SINCERITY and SENSIBILITY,
POLITENESS and AFFABILITY,
GODLINESS and CHARITY,
Were,
With Sense resin'd and Person elegant, in her UNITED.
From a grateful Remembrance of her affection Tenderness
and constant Performance of all the Duties of a GOOD WIFE,
this Monument is erected in the Year 1787,
By Him who knew her Worth, and still laments her Loss.

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