The Significance of Being Frank

Franklin Benjamin Sanborn Was Born December 15 1831 In Hampton Falls New Hampshire. In 1850 Sanborn Studied Greek With A Private Tutor Then Entered Phillips Exeter Academy And After Entered Harvard From Which He Graduated In 1855. Sanborn Moved To Concord Massachusetts Where He Taught School. Active In Politics As A Member Of The Free Soil Party In New Hampshire And Massachusetts In 1856 Sanborn Became Secretary Of The Massachusetts Kansas Commission Where He Came Into Contact With John Brown. Sanborn Was One Of “The Secret Six” Who Knew In Advance Of Brown’S Impending Raid On Harper'S Ferry In October 1859. Sanborn Would Not Only Write A Biography Of John Brown But Also Of Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Samuel Gridley Howe And Others. From 1863 To 1867 He Was Editor Of The Boston Commonwealth From 1867 To 1897 Editor Of The Journal Of Social Science And From 1868 To 1914 A Correspondent Of The Springfield Republican. Sanborn Was Associated With The National Conference Of Charities The National Prison Association The Massachusetts Infant Asylum And The Clarke School For The Deaf. In 1863 He Became Secretary Of The Massachusetts State Board Of Charities. He Was Secretary From 1863 To 1868 And Again From 1874 To 1876. In 1865 He Was One Of The Founders Of The American Social Science Association And Was Its Secretary From 1865 To 1897. In 1879 He Became State Inspector Of Massachusetts Charities Under A New Board And Helped Reorganize The Entire Charities System Focusing Especially On The Care Of Children And Insane Persons. He Served As Chairman Until 1888. In The End Sanborn Was Revered As A Relic From A Golden Age Gone By “A Tall And Venerable Figure Moving Picturesquely Through Boston And Concord.” He Died On February 24 1917 After Being Struck By A Railway Baggage Cart During A Visit To His Son Francis In New Jersey. He Was Buried At The Sleepy Hollow Cemetery In Concord Near The Graves Of His Friends And Mentors Ralph Waldo Emerson Bronson Alcott Ellery Channing And Henry Thoreau. Concord'S Flags Were Flown At Half-Mast For Three Days. At The End Of The Month February 1917 Just Prior To America'S Entering World War I The Massachusetts House Of Representatives Recognized Sanborn’S “Dedication To The Unfortunate The Diseased And The Despised.