A leading Jeffersonian journalist and editor of the Aurora, one of the most important newspapers in early national Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin Bache was born in 1769, the eldest son of Richard and Sarah (Franklin) Bache, and grandson of Benjamin Franklin. In the fall of 1776, the eight year old Bache accompanied his grandfather and cousin William Temple Franklin to Paris. Provided with a excellent education there and in Geneva, he was also introduced to the printing trade through the Parisian printing house of Didot.

Returning to Philadelphia in 1785, Bache finished his education at the University of Pennsylvania and in 1790, he founded the Aurora, which quickly earned a reputation as a leading Republican organ, and just as quickly earned the wrath of Federalists for his unrelenting attacks on the Washington and Adams administrations.

Bache married Margaret Hartman Markoe in 1791, the eldest daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Markoe, wealthy planters from the Caribbean island of St. Croix. The couple had four children before Bache died in September 1798, a victim of the yellow fever epidemic. Margaret Bache continued to operate the Aurora for several months before handing operation of the newspaper to William Duane, an Irish-immigrant and Republican radical whom she eventually married.

Franklin Bache, a physician, teacher, and chemist, was the eldest son of Benjamin Franklin Bache and Margaret Hartman Bache. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania, he received his MD in 1814 after serving as a military surgeon during the War of 1812. Bache published numerous works on chemistry and taught at the Franklin Institute (1826-1832), the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (1831-1841), and at Jefferson Medical College (1841-1864). He received honors internationally for his work, and served as secretary, vice-president, and president of the American Philosophical Society. He married Aglae Dabadie in 1818, with whom he had eight children.

The Castle-Bache Collection contains personal papers, correspondence, notes, financial records, genealogical research, and printed materials that have descended through the Bache family. At the core of the collection is a diverse assemblage of both personal and professional correspondence relating to the grandson of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin Bache, with interesting material relating to Bache's son, Franklin.

The materials relating to Benjamin Franklin Bache include everything from schoolboy essays and diaries, to correspondence with his grandfather, parents, and his fiancé Margaret Hartman Markoe. The collection also includes materials relating to the estate of Francis Markoe in St. Croix, to which Margaret and her children were heirs. His professional correspondence includes letters from a number of noteworthy political figures, including Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and James Monroe.

Franklin Bache is well represented by correspondence and records of his professional accomplishments and the honors he received. Lesser quantities of materials document later Bache generations, including Alexander Dallas Bache (1806-1867), Thomas Hewson Bache (1826-1890), Charles Meigs Bache (1829-1890), Albert Dabadie Bache (1832-1895), and Franklin Bache (1869-1946).

The genealogical materials relate to the Bache, Dabadie, Duane, Elliccott, Franklin, Hartman, Markoe, Read, and Trigg families.

Provenance

The Castle-Bache Collection was microfilmed in 1990 and the originals returned to the family. The collection was owned by the great-great-great grandchildren of Benjamin Franklin Bache and Margaret Hartman (Markoe) Bache. They had been arranged by the Castle family, who made typescripts of many of the most important items. The Castle's numbering system for the collection has been recorded on the upper right have corner of each document folder.

Preferred citation

Cite as: Microfilm of the Castle-Bache Collection, American Philosophical Society. Originals owned by the Castle Family, Wilmington, Delaware.

Processing information

Catalogued by Simon P. Newman, August 1990; recatalogued by rsc, 2003.

Related material

The APS houses a small collection of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin Bache and a large number of collections relating to Benjamin Franklin. The Library also has a diary kept by Bache when he was a young boy at school in Switzerland (B B122d).

The APS has a partial run of Bache's newspaper, the Aurora.

Early American History Note

This is a microfilm of an early American collection that may be of interest to researchers at the APS and may complement an original manuscript collection at the APS.

• Bache family
• Castle family
• Dabadie family
• Duane family
• Franklin family
• Markoe family

• Microfilm
• Microfilm Collection

• Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Politics and government -- 1783-1815
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Medical care
• United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1815

• Bache, A. D. (Alexander Dallas), 1806-1867
• Bache, Albert Dabadie, 1832-1895
• Bache, Benjamin Franklin, 1769-1798
• Bache, Charles Meigs, 1829-1890
• Bache, Franklin, 1792-1864
• Bache, Franklin, 1869-1946
• Bache, Richard, 1737-1811
• Bache, Sarah Franklin, 1743-1808
• Bache, Thomas Hewson, 1826-1912
• Darlington, William, 1782-1863
• Duane, Margaret Hartman Markoe
• Duane, William, 1760-1835
• Fox, George, 1759-1828
• Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
• Franklin, William Temple, 1760-1823
• Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
• Markoe, Francis, 1801-1871
• Markoe, Peter
• Monroe, James, 1758-1831
• Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809
• Peale, Rembrandt, 1778-1860
• Tone, Matilda

• Aurora (Philadelphia, Pa.)
• Moral philosophy
• Newspapers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
• Physicians -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia