Franklin and Kinnersley

Abstract

THE Gentleman's Magazine for January, 1750, published a short article entitled: By a Number of Experiments, lately made in Philadelphia, several of the principal Properties of the Electrical Fire were demonstrated, and its effects shewn. Although this article has been considered Benjamin Franklin's first published piece on electricity, I am able to show that his first published writing on electricity appeared nearly a year before this. Also I am now able to offer proof of the perceptive suggestion of I. Bernard Cohen that the Gentleman's Magazine article is actually a copy of an early outline of the Reverend Ebenezer Kinnersley's lectures on electricity.1 Ebenezer Kinnersley (1711-1778) was a well-known and respected minister, educator, and scientist of colonial America. His early fame as an opponent of the enthusiastic tendencies of the Great Religious Awakening was later eclipsed by his renown as a lecturer and theorist in the science of electricity. He was a neighbour, friend, and co-experimentor of Benjamin Franklin. The full scope of Kinnersley's achievements has not been realized. I do not propose to treat his entire career at this time, but merely to point out those aspects of his work in electricity which contribute to our knowledge of Franklin. Of concern must be the charge that Franklin, to some extent, stole Kinnersley's theories. I will, in part, show that there is little reason to believe this, but there is indisputable proof that this was a well-accepted minority belief in colonial America. Previously it has been thought that Kinnersley's first lecture on electricity was that which was announced in the Pennsylvania Gazette for April 11, 1751. Actually he gave his lectures nearly two years before this. A series of advertisements and editorial notes in the May-June, 1749, issues of the Maryland Gazette prove that Kinnersley was then lecturing in Annapolis. The probable reason for their not being previously noticed is that none of the notices in the Maryland Gazette gives Kinnersley's name. There can be no mistake about their origin since they are practically identical with later advertisements known to be his. An additional proof is that Kinnersley was in Annapolis at this time, for he was a guest at the Tuesday Club in Annapolis, Maryland, on May 16 and June 13, 1749.2