William Franklin in The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

William Franklin

Franklin directs the first portion of his Autobiography as a letter to his first-born son, William. William doesn't appear much in the text, though, just peripherally as a "son" accompanying Franklin on war duty and overseas voyages. What's more, William and Franklin have a big falling out after Franklin writes Part 1 and, while we don't read about it, its effects are obvious: the rest of the Autobiography is pointedly not addressed to William.