Silence Dogood was a false persona

Pen name

A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 used by Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

 to get his work published.

History

As a teenager, Franklin worked as an apprentice in his older brother James

James Franklin (printer)

James Franklin was an American colonial author, printer, newspaper publisher, and almanac publisher...

' printing shop in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, where The New-England Courant

The New-England Courant

The New-England Courant is one of the oldest and the first truly independent American newspapers. It was founded in Boston on August 7, 1721 by James Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's older brother. The newspaper participated in several controversies and was suppressed in 1727...

was printed.

Franklin never got anything he wrote published, so, at age 16, Franklin created the persona of a middle-aged widow

Widow

A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...

 named Silence Dogood. Once every two weeks, he would leave a letter under the door of his brother's printing shop. A total of 14 letters were sent. The first letter began:
The letters poked fun at various aspects of life in colonial America

Colonial America

The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...

, such as this quote about hoop petticoats:
The letters were published in The New-England Courant fortnightly, and amused readers. Some men wrote in offering to marry Ms. Dogood, upon learning she was widowed.

Eventually, James found out that all fourteen of the letters had been written by his younger brother, which angered him. Benjamin left his apprenticeship without permission and escaped to Philadelphia.

Letters 1 & 2 - Dogood's background

Franklin created a whole background for his character, and explained this in depth in the majority of his first letter:

The whole second letter was an account of Dogood's life:

External links

• The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, online archive which includes the Dogood letters