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Benjamin Franklin's Grave
Christ Church Burial Ground
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
Posted Aug 7, 2006
Photo by Robert Kendall

Beneath the flat slab nearest the fence lie the bodies of Benjamin Franklin and his wife, Deborah. The grave is covered with pennies left by visitors in the hope that Ben might slip them a little good luck in exchange. A nearby plaque bears the following epitaph (written by Franklin but never intended by him to be used):

The Body of
B. Franklin, Printer,
Like the Cover of an old Book,
Its Contents torn out,
And Stript of its Lettering & Gilding,
Lies here, Food for Worms.
But the Work shall not be lost,
For it will as he believ'd,
appear once more
In a new and more elegant Edition
Corrected and improved
By the Author.


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