MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – To share an accurate history, it takes time, research and commitment to a particular topic. This all seems to come easy for NMU music professor and historian Dr. James Strain, as a first cousin 10 times removed of Benjamin Franklin, through a common ancestor.
“That specific ancestor would be Peter Folger. If you go back ten generations, my aunt at that point would be his cousin,” explained Strain. “So he and I would share a common grandfather of Ben Franklin and that aunt.”
On Wednesday evening at the Marquette Regional History Center as part of its America 250 program, Strain shared facts and stories about our country’s oldest founding father, as well a collection flags and other pieces of U.S. history. On top of being an astounding political figure, Franklin was also known for his creations, from grounding electricity, to daylight savings time, to bifocals.
Strain says Ben didn’t do this for himself, but for the good of society.
“Basically, he said: ‘if you do this, your life will be better, and if you do that, you’ll help other people’s lives be better,’ kind of with the goal of ‘do well with things, and do good deeds,'” he said. “He was just a fascinating person.”
As a passionate musician and educator, Strain also shared Franklin’s interests and writings of music, representing this in his presentation by playing on glass rims and on an accurate replica of a revolutionary war-time snare drum.
Dr. Strain is also a member of the Sons of the American revolution, looking to share more of his personal connections to history throughout the quarter millennium.
For more from the Marquette Regional History Center, visit marquettehistory.org.
