A few steps away was the colorless marble slab marking the final resting place of Ben Franklin and his wife. The statesmen, inventor, author, printer and diplomat Benjamin Franklin was 70 years old when he helped draft the Declaration of Independence and became one of the seven Founding Fathers of the United States. He lived long enough to witness the first year of George Washington’s presidency. “Poor Richard” died in 1790 at the age of 84. He is buried beside his common-law wife Deborah Reed. She was 66 when she passed from a stroke in 1774.
